


Lifeline

by pandaseek



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 08:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 77,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27348325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandaseek/pseuds/pandaseek
Summary: "What is your name." He wouldn't care usually, but the way this kid had avoided it last time he asked, he was curious."I've had six so far." He answers slowly, weighing each word. "Which one do you want?"Six names? Yep, there is something going on there."The real one. The one that fits you best.""Not my birth name then?" He sounds almost hopeful?Andrew waits until he sorts through his thoughts. He has another hour before he has to go back."Abram." He decides after a long pause. "It's my middle name. The only one that doesn't have to change because it can just as easily be left out."
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 194
Kudos: 443
Collections: Andreil





	1. Chapter 1

"You're hurt again."

  
Andrew glances at the boy perched on the bench beside him. The kid hadn't even seen him walk over. Hadn't seen the slight limp almost perfectly hidden. He shouldn't be able to tell. Andrew must be getting sloppy.

  
"And..." Is all the response he'll give.

  
The boy doesn't say anything else. Just stares across the vacant park, tracking the slow movement of the sun across the sky.

  
It had been this way for three weeks now. Andrew had come across this kid with black hair and shifty green eyes sitting on his bench like he it was his own spot. It had pissed him off to begin with. The anger was only eased when the kid failed to so much as look at him for the first week. It felt nice. Being invisible, even with some-one else beside you.

  
Andrew didn't even know his name. He had asked once, only to be met with silence. He didn't see him for two days after that.

  
"Truth for a truth." The boy proposes, his eyes never leave the cloud drifting above the trees.

  
Andrew studies him for what seems like hours. Watching the tense set to his shoulder. The slight twitch at each sound in the park around them. Always on alert.

  
"Why?"

  
Weren't they fine with their silence? What could he possible want to know? Andrew wasn't anything special. People had been telling him how obscure and worthless he was his entire life.

  
"You don't like people in your business any more than I do. I think you're the only person who wouldn't rat me out."

  
"Ratting you out would require talking to people." But he guesses that's the point. "Alright. But I reserve the right to tell you to fuck off."

  
His mouth curves upwards at the blunt response. "Agreed."

  
"What truth do you want?" It's probably a stupid idea.

  
"Just a name." Definitely a stupid idea. "The person that hurts you."

  
Oh.

  
He pulls on the hem of his sleeve. Tugging them further down over his hands. Thanks foster parents who always buy clothes that are too big.

  
He shouldn't say anything. He had been told not too. It would be worse if they found out. But. Who was this kid going to tell? He hadn't asked how he had been hurt, just who.  
"Drake Spear... My foster brother."

  
The kid doesn't look at him. Though he tears his eyes from the sky and fixes them on a spot just in front of Andrew. Maybe he thought Andrew wouldn't answer, he almost didn't.

  
"Your turn."

  
"What is your name." He wouldn't care usually, but the way this kid had avoided it last time he asked, he was curious.

  
"I've had six so far." He answers slowly, weighing each word. "Which one do you want?"

  
Six names? Yep, there is something going on there.

  
"The real one. The one that fits you best."

  
"Not my birth name then?" He sounds almost hopeful?

  
Andrew waits until he sorts through his thoughts. He has another hour before he has to go back.

  
"Abram." He decides after a long pause. "It's my middle name. The only one that doesn't have to change because it can just as easily be left out."

  
When Andrew doesn't respond, he moves to the next question. "What should I call you?"

  
Interesting, he might be smarter than he looks.

  
"I don't have a preferred name. I have names you shouldn't call me."

  
He looks at Andrew now. It might have been pity if there weren't so much raw understanding in his eyes. He doesn't speak.

  
"Andrew Joseph Doe. Don't call me Andy, AJ or Doe."

  
Abram nods, turning back to the park where a group of teens were attempting to lands trick on their skateboards.

  
"Can I call you Drew? I think Drew would suit you."

  
He lifted his chin in silent agreement. No one had called him Drew before. He could work with that.

  
"Any other questions before I leave?"

  
Andrew thought about the six names.

  
"What are you hiding from?"

  
Abram twisted his hem around his fingers and scanned the park again. When he stood Andrew was sure he would leave without answering, but he just came to stand in front of him. Closer than he'd ever been before, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

  
Afraid. When he spoke it was barely above a whisper. Just loud enough for Andrew even though no one else was in earshot.

  
"My father, and his... friends."

  
He stayed just long enough to watch Andrews non-reaction. When he was satisfied with it, he was gone and Andrew sat on their bench wondering what it would be like to have a normal apple pie life like the kids busting their knees open on their skateboards.

  
\-----

  
He began seeing Abram around town more frequently after that. They never spoke away from their bench though. Andrew didn't even know the name he was using and he doubted calling 'Abram' across the street would end well for the kid.

  
Slowly they began to learn more about each other. Piece by piece, give and take. Abram already spoke German and Spanish and his mother was teaching him French. Andrew told him about his eidetic memory being more of a curse than a gift. Each layer peeled back slowly one question at a time.

  
The best days were when Abram would laugh at his dry humour. Forgetting all his troubles for a moment and wearing a blinding smile that made Andrews stomach flip. Every-time it happened Andrew found himself hating the kid a little more and hoping to see it again.

It wasn't happiness. It was a brief interlude between the shitty moments of his life. Some days it was enough.

  
It didn't stop Abram from being a shifty little shit. Almost two months and he was growing more jittery by the day. Andrew had gone so far as to place a hand on his knee when he refuse to stop bouncing his leg. Abrams only answer was to cast his eyes to the darkening skies above them.

  
The weather man had been predicting a bad storm and it looked like he might be right. Black clouds were rolling in and ripples of thunder echoed through the park.  
"Would you miss him if he disappeared?" Abram asked quietly.

  
"Who?"

  
"The foster brother." He clarified. "What would happen if he were to disappear. Would it be a problem for you?"

  
It wasn't even a possibility. Andrew wondered what a thirteen year old runaway thought could make that happen.

  
"The biggest problem I'd have would be keeping a straight face in front of his parents. I might even consider dancing naked in the rain."

  
"Don't do that, you'll get sick."

  
"Why the hypothetical, Abram?"

  
His leg wasn't bouncing any more. The tension had actually seeped out of his back now. What was he thinking?

  
"Will you do me a favour?" Abram weighed his words. "Can you spend the weekend at your house where Cass can see you?"

  
It wasn't like Abram to ask for favours. Not when he knew why he liked to be out of the house.

  
"Why."

  
Abram hesitated. Running his fingers through his hair and avoiding Andrews eyes. "I'd hate for you to get caught in the storm."

  
"That's a lousy reason," Andrew growled, but he knew Abram wouldn't drop it until he got an answer. "I'll do it, if you give me the real answer on Monday. Rain, hail or shine."

  
"I promise."

  
Abram beamed at him. Any other day and he would have felt something at his smile. Today he bit back the temptation to hiss like a stray cat, and got up to leave. There had better be a damn good reason for this.

  
\-------

  
Andrew suffered through Friday nights family dinner with a sick feeling in his gut. He didn't know what he could expect over the weekend, but nothing seemed good. The only reprieve was Drake droning on about his friends party that night and how it might extend into a boys day tomorrow if Robbies Dad let them borrow the 4x4. God if you're out there, give Robbie the car.

  
He scowled as Drake ruffled his hair and promised to be home soon. Cass grinned at her boys showing such easy affection. Just like real brothers. And waved Drake out the door with a warning about the roads in the storm.

  
It could go two ways. Drake could come home eager to spend some quality time with his little AJ, or he would be too wasted to sneak into his room. Andrew hoped the prick would be thirsty tonight.

  
Andrew spent the night with his back to the wall and one eye on the door. He would be stiff in the morning, but it didn't matter. He hated being taken by surprise. The house stayed quiet and he grew paranoid at 3am. Drake should have been home now, but he hadn't heard the front door. Had he missed it? Was he in the house without Andrew being aware? The thought was terrifying. Making him jump at each loud tick of the clock as he strained to hear footsteps over the sound of pelting rain.

  
When he entered the kitchen in the morning, Cass turned him out again. Asking him to go wake his lazy brother up for his favourite pancakes. Andrew grabbed a glass of water on the way. If he was going to wake the prick up, it was going to be on his terms.

  
The bed was empty. Not just empty but neatly made in a way that would never come from Drakes hands. Made in the same way that Cass made his bed if he forgot to do it in the morning. He wasn't going mad. Drake hadn't come home. Abrams voice rang if his head. What would happen if he were to disappear?

  
Andrew wasn't that lucky, but wouldn't it be nice.

  
Cass was disappointed. In her mind he must have decided that the roads were too dangerous to drive through the storm. He must have stayed with friends. Must have.  
Andrew would usually spend his Drake free time reading or play video games in the basement. Abram had requested that he stay in sight of Cass as much as possible, so he switched to playing card games with Cass in the lounge instead. They even made triple choc brownies after lunch. Good thing she never expected him to speak. He wouldn't have been able to do small talk for an entire day.

  
Drake didn't come home for dinner and by 10 Cass was calling his friends parents to see where he was staying.

  
By lunchtime Sunday, Andrew sat at the table with Pig Higgins going over the last time he had seen Drake. While Cass's husband held her hand and backed up their recounting of Drake leaving for his friends party. Nothing out of the ordinary here. The golden boy had been in a great mood, being the young carefree child that he was. Nothing to concern them. Not until his friends had explained how he left the party early never to return home.

  
Andrew almost laughed. It was a very near thing. The look on Cass's face when the Pig explained that they would find him soon (probably had a girlfriend he hadn't mentioned) was the only thing that kept him contained. Drake didn't have a girlfriend. He would have bragged to Andrew if he had.

  
Cass even contemplated keeping Andrew home come Monday, being stressed about his big brother might upset his school day. But Pig stepped in and claimed that they should go about their normal day until they found any reason to be concerned, and foster kids needed a steady routine if they were going to build resilience.

  
Andrew took it, no matter how stupid the Pigs opinions. Steady routine meant meeting Abram at the park on Monday and he needed answers.

  
\------

  
Abram was favouring his left side when Andrew met him. One hand pressed to his ribs and a satisfied grin on his face.

  
"I told my mum that I got into a fight with a couple of junkies while grabbing dinner." Abram said in lieu of hello. "I'm pretty sure she bought it. And that's what happens when you teach your kids to lie folks!"

  
"How bad?" Andrew asked offering a stick of gum. Abram might have issues with his candy habit but he wouldn't turn down gum.

  
Abram angle his body away from the park and lifted his shirt so only Andrew could see the deep angry bruising on his ribs. The scars that criss-crossed his abdomen bothered Andrew but it wasn't the first time he had seen them and Abram was more confident when he didn't mention them.

  
"Just bruised."

  
"How did you do it?" Abram just shook his head and dropped his shirt down in favour of sitting on the bench. "What are the chances that he'll come back?"

  
"Unless necromancy is real.... None at all." He laughed. It was beautiful in a twisted way that made his stomach flip.

  
"How."

  
Abram looked at him carefully. Like he was tossing up how much he could say. How much he could trust Andrew with.

  
"It's best if you don't know the details. Plausible deniability and all that." He shifted closer on the bench and dropped his voice. "Drew, My Dad is a right sadistic piece of work, but Mum isn't much better. She doesn't enjoy it the way he does but she's not above getting her hands dirty.

  
I was raised to be the worst of both of them. Mum only ran when she realised I wouldn't make it to 18 with him. I don't want to be like them. But they taught me how and they taught me well."

  
A hell of a way to raise a kid. "Will you get caught? I don't want you ending up in juvie for me."

  
"If they get lucky enough to find a piece of him, there will not be anything to link it to me. Thunderstorms are great for washing away evidence. The only thing the should find is his car parked at the mall and I never touched the car so there isn't any signs of foul play to find.

  
Do you trust me Drew?"

  
"I shouldn't. You're a mouthy little shit." He glared at him until his eyes softened. "But against my better judgement. I do."

  
Abrams answering smile was worth it. They sat in silence as the sun began to sink. Andrew hadn't ever felt so calm as he did there with a mouthy shit for a friend and the realisation that he would be sleeping in a bed without having to worry about Drake again.

  
Abram pulled a small parcel out of his pocket and handed it to Andrew without looking. Inside was a nice set of lock picks, similar to the ones Abram had shown him to use a couple of weeks ago, and a pen?

  
"Don't get caught with those." Andrew raised an eyebrow and waited for an explanation. "I haven't heard a missing persons report yet, but when we do mum is going to want out. I can't guarantee I'll be able to say good-bye when that happens."

  
"So what is this?"

  
"A thank-you. You might be the only person in the world who knows me, the real me. These aren't much, but they can give you an advantage if you're in a tight spot. You'll have to get better with the lock picks, and take a closer look at that pen would you."

  
Andrew did. It was nice, silver and a decent weight for a pen. When he played with it he found he could twist the shaft like a lid to reveal a thin sharp blade hidden in the core.  
"I would have preferred giving you a gun, but you need something concealable. They catch a foster kid with a gun or an obvious blade and you'll be in handcuffs whether you deserve it or not."

  
"It's too much." Andrew admitted quietly. "I can't... I don't have anything to give to balance it out."

  
"I'm not asking for anything and this is more selfish on my part." Abram gave him a look that made him squirm. Made him want to reach out. "It would be nice to think that I managed to do one decent thing, managed to make a difference. Nice to know that you'll remember me if I'm dead."

  
Andrew stashed his gifts into the pocket of his hoodie. "I didn't think this was a funeral."

  
Abram laughed. "I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

  
"Good."

  
It wasn't the last time Andrew saw him. A few days later he was hauled out in front of cameras with his foster parents to make a public plea for any information about their missing son and two days after that Abram was gone. The last image he had of him was Abram waving him off with a sharp grin and a cheery 'later Drew!'.


	2. Chapter 2

Things were better for him after that. Not for the Spears, but Andrew. They never did find any leads on the disappearance of the lovely Drake Spear and even after a year Cass spent most of her time crying over her poor lost son. Andrew couldn't bring himself to care. What was one more monster off the street? A good days work in his opinion.  
He took up Exy in school. He figured Abram would see the amusement in him playing a sport he had ignored Abrams gushing over. Turns out he was actually pretty good at it by comparison to the deadweight players in his team. And he took every opportunity to use the lock-picks he could. He even added a few things to the kit to help him disable alarms where needed. The cops would hate him, if they could figure out who he was.

  
His life changed again, standing in a baseball stadium as part of Pig Higgins outreach for youth program. He had gone to grab a soda and some snacks from concession. When he had come back the pig was berating some kid in the middle of the stairs, for taking too long and not even coming back with the drink he had disappeared for. Andrew was no stranger to weird situations but Pig forgetting which kid had been sitting beside him ten minutes ago was a new level of strange.

  
'Pig!' He had called behind the man, prompting him to turn around. He held up his soda and watched as the colour had drained from the mans face. The Pig had swivelled his head from side to side so quickly that whiplash was a real concern. When he stepped aside finally, Andrew got a full view of the kid he had been harassing. Staring back at him was his very own reflection, except he was pissed. Fury written into every line of his face as Andrew stepped towards him.

  
His doppelganger shouted and screamed, drawing the unwanted attention from the crowds around them. Andrew could feel his defenses shooting up as the tirade continued. Outwardly, he sipped his vanilla coke in abject boredom. His mirror image seemed to run out of steam when he realised that Andrew was not a prank or a hallucination but a very real, very not disappearing person who didn't give a shit about his meltdown.

  
By then the parental figure in his life had found her way to the edge of the crowd, all blonde 5 foot 5 of her. Her reaction was similar to the Pigs. She went white, swallowed thickly and the went red. 'Aaron?' she had asked, not even sure which child was the one she was looking for. 'Aaron' Pig had asked looking at the boy he had mistaken for Andrew. 'Aaron' Andrew had thought as he turned on his heel and made his way out of the stadium without a backwards glance. That was too much to take in.

  
A week later he sat in a park similar to the one he and Abram had frequented, this time joined by Pig, Aaron and some bible bashing A-hole who believed the lord had brought his sisters abandoned son back into their lives to be saved! Andrews fingers wrapped around the pen in his pocket at every word out of the preachers mouth. Aaron had used every moment of silence from his well meaning Uncle to tell Andrew how great it would be for Aaron to have a brother in his life. Que clichés about how he felt something had always been missing from his life, and, didn't Andrew feel it as well? What was this? Some horrible dating show?

  
Not once did he ask what Andrew had wanted. None of them had. They all gushed about how great it would be to save Andrew from the system. Pig spoke about how Andrew could use a real home since his beloved brother had disappeared and was recently presumed dead. Clearly the Spears were too distraught to be able to provide proper guidance to a foster child during this trying time. 

  
He wondered if Abram was still alive. He hoped so.

  
Sick off Cass's moping and with limited options, Andrew decided he didn't have anything to lose by giving living with Aaron a shot. He had no interest in Tilda, he had yet to see anything of value in the mother. And he wasn't the same kid he was when Drake had him collared. Abrams intervention had given him reason a purpose to standing on his own two feet and he wasn't going to let any-one take that control away from him again. Maybe, just maybe, he could drag Aaron to his feet too. A way to pass along the good deed.  
At 16 he was formally adopted into the Minyard household. With this came the overly religious relatives and their abandoned son. The son was in Germany learning how best to follow the good lords word before he could come home and re-join their congregation. Between them and the high as fuck mother with a taste for shitty boyfriends, he was starting to understand why Aaron was so pleased to have some-one to suffer with him.

  
Aaron was far less pleased when he realised that Andrew wasn't about to conform to his idea of family. So much for being happy to have a brother. Andrew didn't seem to live up to any of his expectations. He didn't fit in with his friends. Was outright hostile to any-one that tried to offer him party favours or harass him to socialise or conform to peer pressure. Aaron went on a month long campaign to introduce him to every available female in the school, convinced that all Andrew needed was to get laid. A pen-knife to the throat convinced him to stop shoving his own agenda down Andrews throat. Aaron began re-evaluating the brother thing after that.

  
This rude introduction to his normal family brought about an entirely new respect for Abram. Too many times had Andrew seen Aaron cover up bruises before heading out to school. Too many times had his eyes glazed over after raiding Tilda's handbag. Too many times for Andrew to be able to ignore when Aaron was incapable of fighting back.  
Andrew offered his brother a deal. It wouldn't be easy, but it would get Aaron closer to that Medical degree he was so interested in pursuing. In concept it was simple, in completion it would be a lot harder for both of them. Andrew would put a stop to Tilda's abuse, and in return Aaron would get clean (with Andrews help) and would allow Andrew to vet his friends and girlfriends to keep him clean. An all around win for Aaron. In theory.

  
It had taken two months to plan and wait for the best opportunity to deal with Tilda. Andrew had taken Abrams unintended advice about the benefits of thunderstorms and managed to climb into the passengers seat of Tilda crappy Ford as lightning lit up the sky and Aaron remained safely tucked away in the school library.

  
By the end of the night Andrew was laying in a hospital bed with three cracked ribs and bloodied and bruised everywhere else. Tilda was not in a hospital bed. She had the honor of a cold metal slab instead. Andrew stared at the ceiling in that too white room and wondered if Abram had know what he was risking when he went after Drake. It wouldn't have just been death. Drake would have seen the pretty young boy with bright green eyes and he would have wanted more.

  
Andrew had never made a deal with him. Had never asked Abram to help and the stupid little shit had done it anyway. Asking nothing in return and risking everything. Those thoughts played through his mind on a loop for the next three days. Unable to shake the harsh reality of that situation in light of his own actions. Had it been worth it for Abram?

  
His mood didn't improve when the hospital bed was replaced by the spare bed in the Hemmick household and the sounds of machines beeping were replaced by his brothers not so fucking quiet sobs. Who cried over some-one that beat them their entire life? Was that what normal people really did?

  
Andrew had been frightened of thunderstorms as a child, but after Drake disappeared during the biggest storm of the year... He had the strangest urge to dance in the rain every time thunder cracked across the sky!

  
At the pitifully small cremation ceremony (burial cost too much for the worthless waste of space), Andrew was introduced to the long lost cousin for the first time. Nicky Hemmick was a 5 foot 11 bundle of nerves. At his parents scathing remarks, Nicky's strength seemed to drain quickly from his body. Andrew expected him to turn tail and run the moment his father eyes released him. 

  
In a surprising twist, Nicky invited himself to the family home with a lawyer in tow to declare his intentions of gaining custody of the twins after Tilda's untimely demise. Even going so far as to threaten his father with proof that he had been funneling money from his churches charities over the years as a reason why Luther Hemmick should not be allowed access to Tilda's life insurance through custody of her sons. 

  
Life Insurance. He hadn't even thought about that, even if he had he would have assumed that it would be a pitiful amount, if any at all. And here was his cousin stepping in to ensure that what ever the amount, it would be going to him and Aaron, not anyone else. Andrew had been impressed by this show of spine from the disowned child. He would never have guessed it by looking at him. Maybe, just maybe, he could find a family here after all.

  
Nicky secured a house for them inside two weeks, with the help of his boyfriend across the sea, and Andrew and Aaron could finally say goodbye to the preachers. This was great timing. Now mostly healed and Tilda's stash dwindling, Andrew could focus on the next promise. Getting Aaron clean.

  
'But... are you sure????' Nicky had pleaded, tears running down his face. 'Maybe... maybe it's just the grief? We don't have to...' Andrew may have been impressed by Nicky's spine, but his heart was soft. 

  
'She was beating him the whole time, and he was hooked on her drugs long before I met him.' Andrew hated having to repeat himself, but he needed Nicky on board with this. 'Look at his friends. Not a single one is clean. If he wants a future in medicine, we need to change this. Otherwise the closes he if going to come is dealing on the street.'  
It took some time for Nicky to agree to his plan. When he did, Andrew got to see his spine again. He didn't back down as they cleaned out the bathroom and set it up with nothing but babyproofed essentials. He didn't hesitate when they forced Aaron into the room and bolted the door from the outside. He cried, but he stayed there with them while Aaron beat himself against the door and screamed his lungs out. He brought Andrew food and water, when he refused to leave the bathroom door to look after himself, and pillows when he wouldn't go to bed to sleep. Yes, Nicky would be family.

  
Aarons curses died down to whimpers and vomiting. Andrew only opened the door a week later when Aaron had pleaded for some fresh clothes, decent soap and a strong coffee. He wasn't allowed out of the house for another two weeks, so Andrew could be sure he wasn't running straight back to his dope head friends, but he had rein of the house after that and Andrew spent hours scrubbing the bathroom clean of all traces of withdrawal and fixing the torn of hinges and holes in the plaster and tiles.   
Aarons anger over Tilda still held after he was clean, but he seemed to understand Andrew more after that. If Andrew said it, then he could hold him to his word, regardless of whether he agreed or not. It wasn't friendship, it wasn't family, but it was something like acceptance. He imagined Aaron would walk away all together if he hadn't needed someone to pull him into line and keep him clean, it didn't stop him from fighting against Andrew though.

  
'5oo,ooo!' Aaron stared at the paper in his hands.

  
'To be split equally between her surviving dependents.' The lawyer clarified. 'She had accidental death cover, that increased the payment quite a bit.'

  
'5oo,ooo!' Aaron repeated. 'I can go to college with this!'

  
Nicky smiled at them and went through the legal paperwork with the lawyer, ensuring that the funds would be directly deposited into the twins personal bank accounts so that no one would be able to claim that he had touched them. 

  
Of their 250,ooo each, Aaron and Andrew agreed that 50 from each would go towards the house. Easing the burden on Nicky and Erik, and giving them equal shares to the property. Aaron stashed almost all of his away for college and med school, with the exception of a little walking around money, as he claimed. Andrew wasn't quite so conservative with his. He had never had much and even living with his blood family he was still dressing a second hand clothes and cheap shoes. No, he had never really considered college. His needs were far more immediate. 

  
They had a house now that wouldn't be taken away from him. The furniture however, was all cheap and second hand and Nicky's car was a hunk of crap, that served only to get them from place to place as cheaply as possible. The first thing he did was go shopping for clothes. Buying everything brand new, from noteworthy stores. He had three requirements for his clothing, it must fit properly, it must be sturdy enough to last (especially the shoes) and it must scream Danger! 

  
He made it home, burdened by an abundance of shopping bags and proceeded to grab a garbage bag from the kitchen and toss every items of clothing in his wardrobe. Once it was empty and the trash taken out, he organised his new clothes into the space meticulously. He wasn't finished yet. But this small slice of his, made him feel infinitely better.  
The next few days he scoured furniture stores and Car catalogues. Planning out what he wanted to purchase for his room and the common living spaces around the house (Aaron and Nicky could buy their own beds!), and learning everything he could about sports cars and maintenance. 

  
He stepped back to look at his home when he was done. A house they owned, filled with furniture he picked out, wearing clothes he bought for himself and a gleaming black GS parked in the garage beside Nicky's piece of crap. His bank account had been reduced by more than half since Tilda's insurance had gone in, and it was worth every cent in his opinion.

  
A month later, he was in handcuffs.

  
The courts claimed that while , yes it could be seen as self defense, he had stepped in to protect his cousin who hand been badly beaten, no, it wasn't that simple. He had beaten four men unconscious before the bouncers had managed to pull him off them and that was an excessive use of force, apparently. Andrew didn't regret his actions in the slightest. He did however, curse himself for not stopping once he got Nicky free. Now he wouldn't be able to go back and kill them without being implicated.

  
Mandatory counseling and community service, was the final verdict since he was a first time offender with a troubled background (foster care). He was just glad that he wouldn't be going to juvie or jail like the prosecutors had been pushing for. Orange was not a good look on him. He wasn't an adult yet but they had wanted him to be tried as such.  
Three years of court approved therapy once a week. If you weren't crazy before, you would be after. He went through five therapists in the first six months. He didn't hold much hope of making it through three years at this rate. Each one had been quick to pounce on his history as a foster child without so much as a real last name. Wanting to discuss the homes he had been through, and the disappearance of his foster brother while he was with the Spears. He sat in stony silence for the most part, but once they decided that he would be a good candidate for mood altering drugs, he called his lawyer and requested the next name on the list.

  
Walking into Exy practice after one of these particularly nausea inducing sessions, had Andrew coming face to face with the mascots of Exy themselves, Riko jackass Moriyama and Kevin fucking Day. If it were possible for his mood to plummet further, it would have. His coach was rapturous at having Exy's prodigies standing on his court. His teammates were practically wetting themselves in excitement and when they turned to Andrew with plastic smiles plastered over their faces, Andrew had to resist the urge to walk out entirely.

  
'Minyard!' coach had waved him over. 'Minyard, we've been waiting to meet you!' Kevin smiled broadly, walking forward to offer his hand. 'Wrong twin.' Andrew stated, turning to find his place on court. Aaron looked ready to strangle him.

  
Unfortunately, they didn't get the hint and proceeded to follow him across the court, he suddenly felt like the pied piper leading his procession. 'You are right to think yourself unworthy of our attention,' Riko sneered at him, 'but when it come to Exy, you are the better twin. Are you not?' Andrew leant on his racket and stared him down with a bored gaze. Appealing to a persons ego might usually work for them, but he had no desire to be pampered, certainly not by some-one who was already looking down their nose at him.

  
'We're here to offer you a place on the Ravens. With our coaching, you can make court after college!' Day seemed more excited by the prospect than Riko and Andrew combined. 'And?' Andrew asked. Kevin floundered, opening and closing his mouth like a fish gasping for air. Riko's grin turned predatory. 'You will receive a full scholarship,' did he look like the college type? 'Board and meals included,' ????? 'access to world class facilities, and if you play well, a car to go with the package.'

  
'I have a car.' Andrew stated simply. 'Why would I play with you?'

  
'We are the best!' Kevin boasted. Andrew noticed the sharp look Riko sent his partner at that. 'You have the potential to make court and no other school will help you get there.'  
'Let me rephrase,' Andrew spoke slowly, as one would to a child. 'Why would I play for some-one who has made it their goal to be second?' he asked motioning to the two tattooed on Day's face. Riko chuckled, actually chuckled!

  
'The best team,' Riko clarified. 'if not the best player.' Andrew stared at him. He actually believed that he was the best? 'You are not the best player and the answer is no.'  
'You will not receive this offer again!' Riko hissed. 'Pity, I'd love to say no twice.' Andrew dismissed Riko and fixed his gaze on the sheet white face of Day. Shock, anger and fear warred on his face. Now wasn't that interesting.

  
Riko stormed out of the stadium with out a backwards glance, pushing past the coach and barking a sharp order in Japanese. Andrew could see the invisible lead that tugged Day away as his teammates stared in horror. If they didn't think he was mad before, they did now.

Would Abram think he was crazy for turning down a scholarship with the best ranked college Exy team? Who was he kidding, Abram was likely long dead by now. The mouthy shit would have pissed off the wrong person years ago, or gotten himself caught with the risky stunts he like to pull. Andrew needed to let that memory go.

  
Two months later, he met a college coach worth listening too. One that had taken the time to read his file and offer him something worthwhile, three full scholarships allowing Aaron to save the life insurance money for med school, Andrew to attend college with his brother and a reason for Nicky to hang around a bit longer now that they were coming of age. A long discussion, an excited brother and a phone call to the German boyfriend later, Andrew was committing a heinous crime of willing signing up to wear orange for the next five years. Orange.


	3. Chapter 3

"He's a runner." Andrew states without a care, tossing the file back onto the over crowded desk.

  
Kevin Stares at the screen like the kid that just caught Santa. "We can use that speed. He has the potential for court."

  
"You're not listening." Andrew sticks a cigarette in his mouth and lights it with a click of his zippo. "He is a rabbit. He won't sign with you."

  
Kevin dismisses him with a clipped, "Of course he will."

  
Still the arrogant bastard that tried to tell him he would sign with the Ravens a year ago. He hadn't taken kindly to criticism then and it looks like he won't now either.

  
"He has no other options for college Exy. He won't turn me down."

  
"Have you paid any attention to what's in that file?"

  
"What do you see, Minyard?" Coach interrupts, pulling Kevins attention away from the screen, if only for a moment.

  
"He doesn't participate in team events outside practice. He is the first there and last gone each day, if he leaves the stadium at all. His own coach doesn't know the first thing about him. This kid will fade into the crowd and be gone forever the moment startle him and your plan is to have Kevin intimidate him into signing?"

  
Coach leans forward resting his elbows on his knees and eyeing Andrews smoke longingly. "We can provide a home for him. Security and safety away from his family and a way for him to stand on his own. We have something he wants, why wouldn't he take it?"

  
Andrew scoffs, like that's all it takes to break a runaway. "You go in there with your usual speech and this jackass by your side and that kid won't stick around long enough to hear scholarship."

  
"And you know this from all the kids you've recruited." Kevin accuses.

  
Some people will never listen. Good thing Andrew knows when to save his breath.

  
"Come with us then." Coach pitches, ignoring Kevin's not so quiet snort. "If we fail, you can try it your way. And if you get him to sign I'll set you up with some top shelf Whisky."  
Andrew picks at his armbands and stifles the desire to pull a blade on Day. "For waiting until after you two screw up, you'll owe me two bottles."

  
"That's a deal, midget."

  
_____

  
Why did they have to fly. Enduring a useless trip for the sake of Kevin's ego was one thing but did they really have to strap themselves into a tin-can at 30,000 feet to save on a little drive time? And that's ignoring the fact that he had to leave his knives back at the dorm. Damn airport security.

  
To make matters worse, for the sake of dear Kevin's security they had arrived at Millport's court before every-one to be locked into Coach Hernandez's office to watch the game on a small tv set. Too many hours in close confinement with these two Exy addicts was unbearable. Coach was lucky Kevin was right about the kids potential. Even on the crappy tv set he could see the speed and drive that had caught Kevin's attention. The kid out played and out maneuvered every player on court. If he had a decent defense to feed him the ball they wouldn't have lost.

  
It wasn't until the last of the crowds cleared and the only body in the stadium was the kid they were here for, sitting on the bleachers smoking, that they emerged from the office. Hernandez asked for two minutes before Wymack spoke to him. Giving Andrew time to relieve himself and rummage through the Dingoes team room. Kevin had perched himself dramatically on the tv stand in the corner and sat swinging his legs idlily as they waited. Andrew had other plans. To an onlooker it might look like he was trashing the room, picking things up to examine only to toss them aside a moment later. It didn't matter as long as he found what he wanted and Kevin had to bite his tongue or undo his dramatic staging.

  
Three minutes and Andrew was ready. Three and a half and Neil barrelled through the doors like a bat out of hell. Moving too quickly to dodge the swing Andrew dealt him. Straight to the solar plexus. Down he went.

  
Josten wasn't much to look at curled up on the floor gasping for breath. His brown hair flopping over his eyes and his left hand clenched tightly around the strap on his duffle.

Andrew twirled the racket absently as Coach hurried into the room, stopping short to stare as his recruit pulled himself onto all fours and collapsed against the lockers still gasping.

  
"Damnit Minyard! This is why we can't have nice things."

  
"I warned you Coach! Now it's my turn."

  
"Fuck off!" Josten gasped from the floor, dragging his eyes up slowly to survey his attacker. Andrew expected a lot of things to be screamed at him for that dirty trick. What he didn't expect was what came out of Neils mouth in a strangled breath.

  
"Drew?"

  
That one tiny word and his world froze. 

  
The shock written over Neil's face had time picking up at double speed. Andrew tossed the racket aside. Freeing his hands to grab the front of Neil's hoodie, hauling him to his feet only to slam him back into the lockers. He saw the Coaches move to grab him. Stopped quickly by Neil's hand coming up in front of them in a halt motion. Andrew used the time brought to grab Neil's chin tilting his face for a better view and waiting until Neil's eye's found his.

  
His hair and eye's were now brown, where they had once been black and brilliantly green. But this was Abram, five years older and trust still embedded in his eye's when he looked at him, not even attempting to pull out of his grip. The only real difference was now Andrew had to look up at the bastard. Not much, but enough to piss him off.  
"Let him go, Minyard!" Coach boomed beside them, smart enough to keep Hernandez from grabbing at him.

  
"Minyard?" Neil questioned as his mouth pulled up. "Oh, tell me you're number 3, not number 5."

  
"Junkie," Andrew huffed, backing up half a step but keeping on handed clenched in his hoodie. Five years and that's what he wants to ask. "What do you have against my brother?"

  
"His footwork is sloppy, and he lacks speed. I could run circles around him all day." Abram smirked, pushing his hair out of his eye's. "What happened to 'Exy is a waste of time and space'?"

  
"It is. But I had time to spare."

  
Abram laughed breathlessly. Confusing the stunned Coaches further. 

  
Wymack stared at them, running untold calculations through his head. "Andrew, I have a lot of questions right now. You might want to start talking."

"Oh, Coach." Andrew sighed turning away from Abram for the first time. "I have a few questions of my own. So I think Neil and I are going to have a quiet chat."

  
"So you can break him again? I don't think so." Andrew raised a single unimpressed brow, noting how Abram glared at the Coach as well. "You can chat all you like. While I supervise."

  
"Fine. A change in tactics then!" He rolled his eye's, his voice infused with false cheer. "But I need a cigarette, come along children." 

  
Andrew pulled Abram by the hoodie. Shouldering past the coaches and back out to the stadium where they could get a bit more space. Abram pulled two sticks out of his pack, lighting both before passing one over to Andrew as they climbed the bleachers, picking a seat in the middle of the stand. Andrews head was swimming. What did you say to a ghost? He had been so sure that this boy would never appear in his life again. If it weren't for Drake's disappearance, he would have convinced himself that the whole thing had been a strange hallucination. 

  
"I can't believe you play Exy." Abram grinned, leaning back on the chair behind him.

  
"Believe it, Junkie." He muttered before switching to German. If they needed to be supervised than coach brought this on himself. _"Neil Josten. What number are you up to now?"_

  
Abram threw his head back in a wicked cackle. At the end of the row, Wymack threw his hands up in disgust and began making his way back down the stairs.

  
" _23."_ he answered in German. _"When did you pick up German?"_

  
 _"High school. Around the same time I picked up smoking._ " He waved the smoke in Abram face. " _I thought you weren't allowed to play Exy. What happened to your Moms rules."_  
Abram flinched. Andrews stomach dropped as the smile slipped from his face. Abram took a long drag and scanned the stadium. Exhaling a cloud of smoke as Andrew asked.

  
_"How long?"_

  
_"About a year ago. He caught up to us in Seattle. I didn't realise how bad she was until it was too late."_

  
Andrew silently studied Wymack as he stood scowling up at them. He didn't think much of Abrams mother and he sure as hell wasn't going to apologise for her demise.

  
 _"When did you get a brother?"_ Was Abrams next question.

  
_"I ran into him just over a year after you left.... It's like looking into a funhouse mirror, nothing quite fits right with him. Turns out mommy dearest decided to keep him and surrendered me to the system."_

  
_"That sucks."_

  
_"It made for a fun family reunion."_ He said dryly, drawing on the cigarette as he considered his next question. " _Why did you run at the offer when you've spent the past nine month playing Exy here?"_

  
Abram crushed the cigarette under his foot, and turned to study Andrew openly.

  
 _"Kevin Day."_ At Andrews silence, Abram sighed and elaborated. _"I met him when I was a kid, played with him and Riko at Evermore. They know, who I am. They know, what my father is and they have a direct line to the people I'm running from. Spending time around Day will get me killed sooner rather than later."_

  
Abram was serious. Even after five years Andrew could see the honest frustration glaring out of his eyes. Abram had always hated it. Hated the running and the hiding. Hated that some-one showing up would mean weeks in stolen cars and derelict buildings until he could change his name and disappear again. That's what Kevin was for him now.

  
 _"Riko broke Kevin's hand for showing him up in a scrimmage."_ Andrew said when he stopped speaking. _"He won't go back to them and he won't rat you out, even if he does remember you. Which he doesn't right now. He made a deal with me for my protection. He will not risk losing it by going against me. If you stay, you won't have to worry about Day."_

  
 _"It's a risk."_ He muttered, scrubbing a hand through his damp hair, making the ends poke up in all directions. _"It's tempting."_

  
Andrew huffed at how easy he was when it came to Exy. _"Will you think about it then?"_

  
_"How long do I have to decide?"_

  
Since this was the conversation Coach and Kevin were actually interested in, he switched back to English, unsurprised to find Kevin glaring at him from Coaches side. "They need a decision by Monday. You can fax the paperwork in. Read through it. It's a full scholarship plus housing food and an athletes allowance. And Coach has a soft spot for foxes. He'll fly you out to Palmetto the day after you graduate and set you up somewhere until student housing opens for the new year."

  
Abram let out a low whistle, settling his eyes on the pair below them. "And where will you be over break?"

  
"On campus. Babysitting the walking disaster down there."

  
That earnt a quick smile and a chuckle from Abram, and a death glare from Kevin. Abram switched back to German.

  
 _"I won't lie to you. But I can't tell any-one else the truth._ " He weighed his words in a way that Andrew was all too familiar with. _"Will that be a problem for you?"_

  
It sounded like Abram might actually agree. Andrew couldn't help the quickening of his heart at the thought of him moving into fox tower. Being able to see him again on a daily basis. Some-one real, that could see the real Andrew under all his layers of anger and violence.

  
 _"No._ " Andrew pulled out his own cigarettes this time, offering one to Abram before continuing. _"As it stands, I barely speak to them unless I need too. Your truth is safe with me."_

  
The soft smile Abram sent him was ridiculous. Some-one who murdered at 13 should not be able to look this innocent. This sweet.

  
_"I know it is. I just don't want to cause trouble for you with your friends."_

  
Stupid thoughtful asshole. Andrew should have let him run.

  
_"Come meet Day officially. It'll help you decide."_

  
Abram shrugged, taking a drag on the smoke and following Andrew down the steps to Wymack and Day. Kevin glared at the cigarettes in avid disapproval, Andrew responded by flicking ash at him and Abram danced along the seats in the first row, stopping to stand almost eye to eye in front of Day.

  
"What's the verdict?" Wymack broke the silence, eye's darting between Andrew and Neil.

  
Andrew watched as Neil stared Kevin down. Looking for any sign of recognition in his arrogant face.

  
"If you're going to play for me, you will give those up. We take our health seriously." Kevin glared at him.

  
Neil cackled, sending Andrew another blinding grin, and brought the cigarette to his lips again.

  
"He'll take the weekend to think it over. You'll have your answer Monday."

  
"I'll tell you what." Neil dropped the cigarette, onto the bench, crushing it under his shoe. "Fly me out after graduation, keep Day out of my personal life, and I'll sign now."

  
"What?" Sputtered Day.

  
"Deal." Wymack grinned, holding out the folder and pen. "Remind me to listen to you more often Minyard."

  
"Wouldn't do any good." Andrew watched Neil pull out the contract and start scanning through the details. "You're a stubborn old fool."

  
"You are 18 right? We don't need to contact your parents?"

  
"19" Neil corrected.

  
Liar.

  
\------

  
Coach and Kevin had bombarded him with questions the entire way back to Palmetto. Mainly why he didn't tell them that he had known Neil Josten. Not being one to lie, Andrew stayed resolutely silent. Only stating once that he had never known the kids real name. That had brought on a fresh round of questions from Day, Coach seemed to know it was time to back off.

  
A quick quiet warning to Day ensured that he wouldn't say anything about the encounter to the rest of the team. The team only knew what coach told them. They would be expecting a new fox, who would arrive at Palmetto after they all left for summer break and spend his time becoming acquainted with the campus and the monsters while they were away. It was easy to see how pleased the captain was with that news. Not at all. She even threaten to cancel her vacation to ensure that Andrew wouldn't damage the poor kid before training started. If only they knew.

  
When the day came, coach had left them with strict instructions that Nicky would be the one to pick Neil up from the airport. Yeah right. The moment the door had closed behind him Andrew had offered a counter arrangement. Either he picked Neil up on his own, or they all went.

  
Nicky was attempting to be the responsible adult, by talking the others into going as a group so Andrew wouldn't be left alone with the poor boy. Kevin huffed his annoyance but agreed. Aaron predictably didn't care. Until Andrew threw a set of his own clothes at him and ordered him to change.

  
\--------

  
 _This was a mistake,_ Neil thought. His mother would beat him senseless just for considering it. But she wasn't here. To be fair, she would have beaten him for joining the Exy team in Millport. She would have beaten him for befriending Drew back in Oakland. She did beat him after she learnt about the disappearance of Drake, not that she knew he actually had something to do with it.

  
She had been out that night, using the storm for her own benefit. She didn't notice the missing clothes or the extra time he had spent out. But it was to much of a risk to stay when she had seen it on the news. The parents making a heart-felt plea for information, Drew standing stoically beside them. Police searching for a missing high-schooler would look too closely at a mother and son with no ties to the community.

  
Stepping off the plane was both terrifying and exciting. As much as he obsessed over Exy, he would be lying if he said that it was the only reason he had signed that contract. The much bigger reason had been Drew.

  
Reckless, maybe. Especially when he had already killed for the boy. Drew held the potential to destroy him in the palm of his hand. But seeing him again.... He was real when Drew looked at him. Not just some passing figure, but some-one with a future. Drew was the first and only friend he had ever found and he couldn't give up the chance to have that back in his life. Even if it came with risks like Kevin Day.

  
Wymack had said he would sent some-one to pick him up. He was hoping for Drew. He wasn't expecting a group of them. But across the terminal stood Drew. Along with a carbon copy of him that looked 10 shades of wrong, Kevin fuckin Day and a tall dark man wearing a rainbow pride shirt. Interesting.

  
Drew and the look-a-like were dressed almost identically. He stopped a few feet from the group to give them a clear once over, before dropping his duffle at Drew's feet with an arched brow.

  
"Really?" he asked, when none of them spoke.

  
If Drew wanted to test him then they would have to get this over with. He didn't bother looking at Day, every one knew who that fucker was and no doubt Neil's ignorance would piss him off. He moved to stand in front of the look-a-like instead.

  
It was weird. He looked just like Drew, but something was off. Where Drew held a careful blankness, this guy was bordering on distain. A slight twitch in his nose let Neil know that he didn't care for the scrutiny.

  
"I see what you meant by the fun-house mirror." He said casually, glancing over to Drew. "Not-Drew looks like an asshole. Was he worth the name-change?"

  
He counted it as a victory when Drews lips twitched up, and his bored stare was fixed on him. The other one got his attention by whispering to not-Drew in German.

  
_"Did that just happen? How can he tell the difference?"_

  
_"I don't know. Shut up."_ Came not-Drews reply.

  
Neil looked between Drew and the other guy. "Who the fuck is this guy?"

  
"I didn't just get a brother," Drew broke their formation to look over the pair with him. "I also got a cousin."

  
"Nicholas Hemmick." The cousin held his hand out, which Neil took hesitantly. "You can call me Nicky, gorgeous."

  
"Right..." Neil pulled his hand back. "And what's not-Drews name?"

  
"Aaron" Drew answered.

  
"Keep calling him Drew and you'll be dead before we make Abby's." Aaron stated with a smug smirk.

  
Neil studied the twin before turning back to Drew. "Is there a problem with me calling you Drew now?"

  
"No." Drew glared at his brother. "Nicky tried to call me Andy when we first met. I warned them not to use nicknames with me."

  
"Oh." Neil looked over Nicky again. "That was a mistake, wasn't it."

  
Nicky's jaw dropped and Aaron glared at him again. 

  
"Is this it? Or do you have more luggage?" Drew asked picking up his duffle.

  
"You know I travel light," he teased.

  
"What the fuck is this!" Aaron demanded.

  
\-----

  
If Andrews family found their playful banter strange, what came next outright shocked them. The car Andrew lead them too was nice black and screaming expensive and judging by the way they all glanced at Drew as he stashed Neil's bag in the truck, it was Drews. 

  
"Kevin," Drew sung as Kevin reached for the passenger handle, "you're in the back."

  
Three startled faces rounded on Drew at once as he slammed the trunk closed. Those faces quickly moved onto Neil with a mix of shock and anger.

  
"Are you kidding me?!" Kevin swore, falling quiet at the bland stare Drew returned.

  
"Holy shit!" Nicky laughed, as a pouting Kevin moved to slide in the back beside Aaron.

  
Neil didn't move from Drews side, as the watched his family get comfortable and close the doors behind them. Once the car was shut, Drew turned to Neil and dropped his voice.

  
"Kevin has had too many years of getting his own way. Let him know early that he can't push you around."

  
Neil hummed, leaning closer. "I can manage that."

  
"Good," Drew shifted his position so his back was to the car, and dropped the bland expression allowing Neil to see the look of trust and care in his eyes. "They have the day planned for you. We won't be able to talk openly until tonight. I'll drive you over to Wymacks after dinner, alright?"

  
Warmth blossomed in his chest. Drew wanted to continue their honest friendship just as much as he did. Maybe coming here was a mistake, but it was worth it for this.

  
"I can't wait." He smiled softly.

  
Kevin was still grumbling as they got into the car. Cursing quietly and demanding that Neil move the seat up to give him extra leg room. Neil moved the seat back and extra click and stretched his legs out in front of him.

  
"So what are the plans then?" He asked Drews profile as Drew swung the car out of the parking lot.

  
Nicky perked up, leaning forward in his seat. "So, we're going to drop your things off at Coaches. You'll be staying there until the tower opens. Then we're heading over to the court to see if you can keep up with us. And then over to Abby's for dinner."

  
"Who is Abby?"

  
"The team nurse." Kevin stated.

  
"You'll love her, she's a sweetheart." Nicky added. "That's where we're staying for the break."

  
Neil nodded absently as he took in the information. He should have realised that Andrew staying with Kevin for the break meant his small family would be here as well.

  
"I expect you to run circles around Aaron as promised." Drew cut in.

  
Neil laughed, sharp and bright. "I'll run circles around both your backliners."

  
Coaches apartment wasn't much. A small two bedroom(well one plus office) over flowing with the waste of a messy single man. Ashtrays overflowed with at least one perched on each flat surface in the place, and paperwork scattered every where. Neil had spent his life squatting in one decrepit place after another, run down buildings he could deal with, but mess on this scale. Where you wouldn't be able to tell if some-one had searched the place or not. This wasn't going to work. He could already see the hours he was going to put in to cleaning this up. 

  
It had a couch though, which was significantly better than wooden floors and park benches. He was happy with that. Not that he mentioned that fact as Nicky profusely apologised for coaches lack of guest bed. 

  
He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he watched Drew pull the lock picks he had given him, out of his pocket effectively breaking into one of the locked cabinets in seconds, stealing a bottle of vodka and passing it to Kevin. Drew winked at him, when he caught his grin. It was good to know he could still use them. Neil wanted to know if he kept the pen as well.

  
When they pulled up outside the foxhole court, Neil was vibrating with excitement. It had been eight years since he had stepped foot onto a real Exy court. He wanted to be inside, hearing the squeak of his shoes against the polished floors, seeing the gleam of the stands through the plexi-glass. Getting blocked from the gate because Nicky wanted to know his sexuality was not on his to do list.

  
"What! He is too cute not to have some-one waiting for him!" Nicky exclaimed when Aaron told him to knock it off. "All I want to know is if he swings my way?"

  
"Not every one is a Fag, asshole!" Aaron curses.

  
Great now he was on a team with a homophobic jackass! Neil whirled around to glare at Aarons unapologetic face, only to find that neither Drew or Kevin were surprised by the attack.

  
"So I was right!" He focused on Drew. "He really is an Asshole!"

  
Drew lifted his shoulder, silently saying _what can you do?_

  
"Would you be mad if I stabbed the fucker?" 

  
"Unfortunately," Drew leveled Aaron with a cold glare, "I have to object. If any-one is going to stab him, it'll be me."

  
"Does that mean you swing my way?" Nicky repeated hopefully.

  
"It would be better if he remained heterosexual Nicky." Kevin cut in.

  
"Who the fuck said I was heterosexual, Day?" If the didn't drop this soon he really was going to stab some-one.

  
"Not another one." the asshole muttered. That was enough for Neil to lose his good mood.

  
"You know what, I get it. You're white, male and straight. You have everything in the world going for you because no-one can discriminate against you based on things you can't control. Congratulations you must feel great about that. But have you considered for a single moment that others aren't that lucky and you standing there playing the self-righteous asshole does absolutely nothing to improve the standards of the world for any-one. He is your cousin, you prick! It's bad enough he has to cop prejudice from the rest of the world without having to come home and cop it from his family! Grow a fucking heart and try to be a productive member of society next time!

  
As for you Nicky... and you Day." Neil jabbed his finger at Kevin's chest. "I don't have a sexuality! As in, I have yet to be physically or romantically attracted to any-one. Okay! I'm not straight, I'm not gay. I'm not anything! And I'd appreciate it if you could drop this fucking question already!"

  
Without waiting for a response, he pulled his own lockpicks from the tongue of his sneakers and set to work on the door. Letting himself into the building in 10 seconds flat. It would have been faster if he wasn't so angry. He didn't wait for the others, though he heard Drews footsteps behind him, as he set out to scout the building. 

  
He mapped out everything from the public areas to the off-limits access. Mentally noting each security camera and exit sign. Slowly he worked his way through the away facilities and over to the foxes private rooms. Coaches office, the nurses (Abby's) station and into the team locker rooms. Surprisingly. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Drew was waiting for him there. Laying across on of the benches and tossing an exy ball up in front of his face.

  
"I'm not sorry. Your brother is an asshole." He wasn't sorry, but he was worried that he had just lost his friend right after finding him again.

  
"I know." Drew stated simply. "But I didn't kill his abusive mother to let some-one else raise a hand to him."

  
Any-one else might be shocked by the confession but he and Drew had never been normal.

  
"Was it hard for you?"

  
"Planning to make it look like an accident took longer than I would have liked." Drew said sitting up and tossing the ball into the corner. "But it was worth it."

  
"You don't hate me for it then."

  
"No. He knows how I feel about his attitude towards that." 

  
Drew stood and gestured for him to follow. Neil did without thinking, he had come to far to walk away from Drew now. He lead them to the court, where they stood side by side watching Aaron, Nicky and Kevin warm up on the other side of the plexiglass.

  
"Blood doesn't make family. That's about the only thing foster care teaches you. These bastards are mine by choice. It's not easy and we have a few deals in place to be able to handle each other, but they're mine.

  
I can't let you harm them off the court. But putting them in their place is fair game. Keep that in mind and we won't have an issue."

  
Neil took it in. Drew had put up with an awful lot over the years searching for a family. He wasn't going to be the one to come in and fuck that up for him.

  
"I didn't come here to cause you problems Drew."

  
"Then we're fine. Let's go gear up."

  
Drew directed him to his own locker. Already stocked with gear order specifically for him. He stared at the bright orange jersey with JOSTEN printed across the back above the white number 10. The orange was hideous. It was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen, second only to Drew pulling on his own jersey. MINYARD, 03.

  
"I won't change in front of the team." He stated pulling his shirt of and beginning to assemble his gear.

  
"There are stalls in the bathroom, showers too." Drew said taking in the new scars that littered his chest and back. "You were shot?"

  
Neil hummed, rubbing the bullet wound absently. "Russia three years ago. An inch over and it would have hit the Kevlar vest."

  
"Come on. I want to see you run circles around these assholes. Don't go easy on them just because they're my family."

  
Neil laughed easily. "Wouldn't dream of it."


	4. Chapter 4

Neil did in fact, run circles around both backliners. Not that it had done him much good. He hadn't managed to get a single shot past Drew. It frustrated him to no end, and it excited him beyond belief. Drew was incredible. He had seen a few of the foxes games, but it was nothing to experiencing it first hand, he now understood how Drew held the best stats of any collegiate Exy goalie. Hell, with his skills he would be able to walk into a Pro career and straight onto court without trying. And with that, Neil had a new life goal, become good enough to challenge Drew on court.

  
Arriving at Abby's had been a relief. Aaron had not taken well to being shown up by the mouthy new kid and was in a mood darker than any he had seen from Drew. Nicky seemed to take the beating with much more grace than his cousin, gushing about Neil's speed and how that will help the team once he learned to score. Between the two the car ride over had been tense.

  
The moment they stepped through Abby's door, they split off in their own directions leaving Neil to follow Drew into the kitchen where Coach was standing with a mug of coffee watching Abby make dinner. The muscle shirt he wore displayed his large tattooed arms with more accuracy than the suit he had worn in Millport. Neil stiffened at the sight.  
If Coach noticed, he didn't mention it. Abby's smile faltered for a moment though. Embarrassment burned as he forced his body to relax, despite his racing heart. Drew nudged him with his shoulder, the brief contact grounded him. It had been over a year since he had some-one by his side, and his mothers contact had never been one of comfort. It was disorientating how calm he felt with him.

  
"It's nice to see you haven't broken him yet." Coach stated, running his gaze over Neil as if checking for wounds.

  
"Andrew wouldn't hurt him, David." Abby said, but the twitch in her smile spoke of doubt.

  
"It's almost like you don't trust me, David" Drew mocked and Neil bit back a laugh.

  
"Yeah, and it's not like I don't have reasons for that." Coach glared.

  
Drew made a dismissive gesture and turned his attention towards Abby. "How long until dinner?"

  
"About 10." Abby pointed her wooden spoon at him. "Since you're here, you can set the table for me."

  
Drew rolled his eyes, but went to the cabinets and handed Neil a stack of plates before grabbing the cutlery. Unsure on what to do, Neil waited to follow him through to the dinning room. He hadn't been in a formal dining room since he had lived in Baltimore with his father. Abby's was smaller, with two tables pushed together to create one long one that seated 10 comfortably, 12 if the squished in, and took up most of the room. It looked like they were setting the table for seven tonight. Drew ignored the seats on the ends and set the places across from each other.

  
When they were finished, Drew sat on one side with his back to the wall and leaving a seat either side of him open. Drew looked at him with a raised brow and waited for him to pick his seat. Not wanting his back to the door, he took the seat beside Drew in the corner. It meant he didn't have easy access to the door, but there was a window beside him and a clear view of the rest of the table.

  
"You make that look difficult." Drew commented absently as he sat down.

  
Neil rocked back in his chair and waited to see what would happen next.

  
Abby lead a procession of people baring dishes filled with food into the room not long after. Kevin dropped into the seat beside Drew and Nicky next to him. Aaron, Coach and Abby took the seats on the other side facing them. Neil didn't know whether to be wary or grateful that Abby had taken the seat across from him. She kept shooting him careful looks like she expected him to bolt at any second, all it did was put him on edge and make him want to run. He could get out of the window and into the street in seconds. Oh, the irony.

  
"What did you think of the Foxhole, Neil?" Coach started, while they served the food.

  
"Did you pick the colours specifically to be seen from space?" 

  
"You know Coach," Nicky laughed from the other end. "The girls were hoping for a nice quiet recruit this year. I think they're going to be disappointed."

  
"Why? Did something happen at the court." 

  
Nicky burst into fits of laugher as Kevin grumbled beside him, but it was Aaron who responded.

  
"He's a royal prick that broke into the court when Nicky didn't open the door fast enough and insulted every-one on the way through and couldn't score a single goal on Andrew."

  
Coach watched his players closely, taking in their reactions to Aarons accusations.

  
"You notice, dear brother." Drew fixed him with a bored stare. "How you failed to mention that he insulted you for being a homophobic asshole, then proceeded to run circles around your defense on the court."

  
Aaron glared at his twin and shut his mouth for which Neil was grateful.

  
"Kevin?" Coach asked.

  
"We need to work on his precision. His footwork is adequate, similar to what Tetsuji taught me when I was a kid. I can build of that. I'll start teaching him a few ravens drills tomorrow. He should be passable by the start of season."

  
"No." Drew interrupted, before Coach could speak. "You can start with him in a few days."

  
"The sooner we start, the better he'll be!" Kevin argued, around a mouthful of beans.

  
Drew waved his fork at him. "He just got here. You can wait a few days." 

  
"Andrews right." Abby agreed. "He just got here, he could use a few days to settle in."

  
Neil watched the argument in detached curiosity, propping his elbow on the table. He had no clue why the were all set on making plans for him when he didn't have a single one of his own, outside of annoying Drew that was.

  
"There's no reason to wait!"

  
"Minyard, give me some-thing to work with." Coach sighed, rubbing the back of his hand across his stubble.

  
"His entire life fits into a duffle bag. I'm taking him to Columbia for a day or two, to take him shopping. At very least to get the essentials for college life."

  
"Oh, are we taking him to Eden's?" Nicky beamed.

  
"No." Drew stated. "You lot can stay here and babysit. I will be taking Neil."

  
The whole table seemed shocked by the distinction. Leaving Neil feeling like a bug under the micro-scope as they turned their attention to him.

  
"Do I need to go shopping?" He asked quietly, desperately trying not to draw any more attention.

  
Drew slide his gaze over the oversized, threadbare grey hoodie he was wearing. "Since it doesn't look like your wardrobe has changed in the past five years. Yes, we need to go shopping. Notice how I don't wear oversized crap any more?"

  
Drew rocked back in his chair, pulling at the hems of his own clothes to demonstrated that yes, the fashionable ripped black jeans and his black t-shirt and arm bands fit him well. Neither too big, nor too small, other than where his shirt strained over his shoulders and biceps.

  
Neil scowled at the rebuff, picking at his old hoodie. "It's comfortable."

  
"And I can find you comfortable clothes, in your size that don't have holes in them."

  
Abby cleared her throat before Neil could argue. "So, you've known each other for five years?"

  
"Knew each other five years ago would be more accurate. It's not like we had the ability to keep in touch." Neil pouted, but glad for the change in subject.

  
Drew hummed in agreement. "Which means we have five years to catch up on, hence Columbia."

  
"So you knew him before you met Aaron?" Nicky asked across the table, eye's fixed on the scowling twin.

  
"Yes." Drew said bluntly.

  
"How can you trust a guy you haven't known for the past five years, when you don't even trust us!" Aaron accused.

  
The table fell silent as Drew leveled an icy glare at his twin. "He has earned my trust 100 times over. Whereas you seem incapable of keeping a single promise."

  
If Neil had thought the car ride over was tense, it had nothing on the tension that settled over the room following Drews words here. The rest of the dinner was quiet, with only a few muttered responses to Abby's polite inquiries about their day. Neil kept his attention on the other twin. He wanted to know what he had done to lose Drews regard, while Drew was still protecting him. When the plates were cleared away, Neil thanked Abby hastily for the meal as Drew pulled him out of the house by the arm of his hoodie.

  
The drive back to Coaches apartment was quiet, but unlike Abby's there was no tension between them. Even after five years, silence was normal for them and Neil wasn't going to pry into whatever tenuous relationship Drew had built with his brother. They each had their boundaries after all.

  
They didn't go inside after they pulled up at the apartment building. Drew got out and sat on the hood of the car and lit up two cigarettes, handing one over as Neil joined him. 

  
"When did you start smoking?" Was Drews next question.

  
Neil explained the run they had with his father in Seattle. The running, the screaming, the gunfire. Hotwiring some business class car in a banks parking lot. Pushing the speed limits, while trying not to draw attention from the traffic police. His mum, slowly bleeding out in the seat beside him. The beach they pulled up to as the sun was setting, where his mother took her final breath. Throwing all the essentials into his duffle and pouring the spare fuel cans over her body. Lighting the car up and watching it burn from the dunes. That's where he had light his first cigarette. Taken from his mothers pack.

  
"It's funny. It was always go, go, go with her. Anything I did wrong was going to bring them to us again, but. I've been Neil for over a year, doing everything she told me not too and it's been one of the most uneventful years of my life. I'm starting to wonder if she was the one drawing them to us."

  
"Probably." Drew said after a pause. "You said she kept in contact with people, they were probably tracking her through that contact."

  
Neil shrugged. It wasn't like he could find out now.

  
"Aaron is going to be a bitch to deal with for the next few days. I don't really want to be here for it."

  
Neil could hear an unasked question in the statement, but wasn't sure what it was. Drew was studying him like he expected to find the answer on his face. 

  
"What's the plan then?" He offered. He wasn't sure what he was getting himself into, things couldn't go too far wrong with Drew by his side.

  
"Let's head to Columbia now. Take a few days away from these bastards, we are technically on vacation anyway. They can survive a few days without us here."

  
"Any-one would think you missed me, Drew." He grinned.

  
Drew scoffed. "Not on your life, Abram."

  
"Liar." He chuckled, looking up to study the building in front of them. "I'm all for it. The offer of a couch isn't exactly enough to move past the idea of sharing an apartment with a middle aged man. And no offence, dealing with Day and your look-a-like can wait."

  
Drew eyed him cautiously as he slid off the car. "When was the last time you slept in a bed?"

  
"Seattle." Neil didn't look at Drew this time. He didn't want to know what he might think about that. "Come on. I need to grab my duffle if we're leaving."

  
\------

  
Andrew sent matching messages to Nicky and Wymack before the left the apartment. Each stating clearly that they were leaving for the next two days and were not to be bothered unless it was an actual emergency. In the meantime Nicky and Wymack were in charge of babysitting.

  
They stopped at and all night store 20 minutes away from Andrews place. Stocking up on food for the morning and enough ice cream and candy to make Abram blanch and steer them towards the fresh produce section. Andrew was sure that he had never bought this amount of fresh fruit for a week, let alone two days. As always, he caved to the bright smile Abram gave him. Maybe he could convince him to make chocolate dipped strawberries.

  
It was ridiculous. He was ridiculous. It was one thing to have Abram back in his life, it was another to be so unwilling to let him leave his sight, that they feel asleep on the couch together. There were three perfectly good beds in the house. Even if he didn't want to touch Nicky's or Aarons rooms he could have slept in his. Or allowed Abram to sleep in his, since he hadn't experienced an actually mattress in over a year. But no. Andrew had to be a mess who let his.... best friend? Only person he truly trusted? The guy that murdered his abuser? Cute guy he definitely didn't have a thing for? Fall asleep on his shoulder when he could barely stand being touched.

  
What was worse, they were still in that position when he woke up, with Abrams head nestled into his neck and his breath sending goosebumps down his spine. Andrew should be lashing out, why wasn't he lashing out at this? 

  
He must have shifted, because Abram opened his eye's and pulled back enough to put space between them with a muttered apology, his voice groggy with sleep.  
"I don't think either of us planned it." Andrew yawned.

  
"I know you don't like being touched." Abram rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I forgot to take my contacts out. I need a minute."

  
Andrew watched him make a bee-line for the bathroom, grabbing his duffle on the wat through. The feeling in his chest was incomprehensible. Five years apart. It shouldn't feel like he had been there this whole time. He shook of the feeling and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

  
When Abram re-appeared, his eye's were bloodshot and... blue? Well that was new.

  
"I think Nicky keeps eyedrops, if you need them?"

  
"I have eye drops," Abram smiled as he watched him turn the bacon. "I just need an hour or two before I put them back in."

  
"You could leave them out. Or is shopping without them too much of a risk?"

  
"I'm more comfortable in public with them in." Abram admitted, rummaging through the cabinets until he found the mugs.

  
"We're not in a hurry."

  
\--------

  
He had never spent so long inside a mall in his life. 15 minutes was the maximum allowable time he had ever had before. He and Drew were now at four hours and counting. He had bought active wear, sleepwear as well as several new pairs of jeans and even more shirts. Because some were for day wear and some were for going out? It was insane!  
Three new pairs of runners, plus a pair of steel capped biker boots that Drew had insisted upon and a suitcase to carry them all in. Neil was at a loss to where he would keep all this stuff and Drew was having a field day at his discomfort.

  
"We are not even close to done. You realise this, right?"

  
"What more could I possibly need?" Neil whined, burying his face in a clothing rack. Not only had they bought more than he ever would have, but Drew had paid for more than half of it already.

  
"This has just been the clothes. Next you need things for your dorm. That means sheets, blankets, pillows, basic kitchen ware, towels. Do you see where this is going? Things that real people own when they stay in the same place for more than a few weeks."

  
"I've never owned any of that stuff, Drew!"

  
"I know." Drew waited for him to look up from the mess of t-shirts. "This is why I'm helping before all the goody-two-shoes get involved and start making a big deal out of it."

  
Neil was tempted to bury his head in his hands again and cry. If it were any one but Drew here, he would be considering murder.

  
"Alright. Can we just..... can we have a break for a while?"

  
Drew considered him for a minute, his gaze softer than Neil had ever seen before. "Let's take this to the car and find some-where to have lunch. We can work out what we're doing after that."

  
They picked out bedding and bathroom stuff after lunch. Neil spent half an hour going through various shower gels and shampoos, unused to actually picking out things he liked rather than what was cheapest or closest. Cucumber and green tea was the winner. Drew smirked and threw in an orange and pomegranate wash he had been considering, as well.

  
Satisfied with their haul for the day, Neil dragged them into the Exy shop before they left. He liked this shop. Being so close to Palmetto they actually stocked the foxes jerseys and matching hoodies. Drew took one look at the 03 hoodie in his hands and growled.

  
"Don't you dare!"

  
"Since you don't like my hoodies, I need some new ones." Neil chirped happily.

  
"You have your own team hoodie now. You don't need to buy one of mine."

  
"But I want one with your number. " Neil admitted, now the thought was in his head he was having a hard time shaking it. Drew stared at him, a slight flush in his cheeks was the only sign that Neil's thoughts had affected him.

  
"If that's what you want, you can have my actual team hoodie. It's ten times better than fan merchandise."

  
"You would give me your hoodie?" Neil stood shocked by the offer.

  
"Yes." Drew said quietly. "If you're going to wear my number, than you should wear my hoodie. It's not like I wear it anyway."

  
Neil's heart swelled at the idea of wearing Drews hoodie and he didn't bother containing the grin that spread across his face. "Okay."

  
"Okay?"

  
"Yes, okay."

  
They didn't unload the shopping when they got back to the house, save for a few clothes for Neil to wear the next day, the rest could stay in the trunk until they got back to Palmetto. They didn't need it yet. Drew convinced him to go through and toss most of his worn out clothing, now that he had replaced them. Neil refused to toss it all, keeping his old hoodie and a few baggy shirts that didn't have holes yet.

  
"What's left?" Neil asked over their Chinese takeaway dinner.

  
"Kitchen ware, school supplies and anything else you might want."

  
"I need a few weapons. Do you think I can get away with having a gun in the dorms?"

  
Drew shook his head, chewing and swallowing before he answered. "When they announced that Kevin would be signing with us as striker, some-one called in an anonymous tip, claiming that we were running a meth lab out of our dorms. Cops came in and searched the whole floor. My knives were hard enough to explain, an unregistered weapon would put you in jail."

  
"Damn." Neil cursed. "I'd rather have a gun on hand, but I guess we can look at alternatives."

  
"What are you thinking?" 

  
Neil worked through his chow mien slowly, weighing up practicality and ease of use in the weapons he would usually go for.

  
"A decent set of throwing knives would be good. Have you learnt to throw them yet?"

  
Drew shook his head. "I don't have throwing knives, and I'm still working on besting Renee in a knife fight. I have her at hand to hand, but she's better with a blade than I am."

  
"Renee?" Neil blinked, not liking the idea of someone holding a blade to Drew.

  
"The other goalie. She has a history with gangs and she wields a knife like no-ones business."

  
"Okay..." Neil mulled over the information. "We'll get a couple of sets and I'll teach you how to use them."

  
Sharing a house with just the two of them, was a realm of comfort he had never experienced before, it felt like a strange twilight zone. He stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but track pants, contacts discarded and his natural eye's on full display. Only to be met by Drew, in hello kitty pj pants and a black tank top. His arm bands stripped leaving his own scars bared, and holding his foxes hoodie and work out shirt. Neil grinned as he pulled on the work out shirt. No sleeves meant some of his scars were showing, not that he was worried with only Drew here to see them, he was more excited by the number three displayed on it. Not only had he found Drew after all these years, now he could wear the proof for all to see, and that made him happier than he had ever been.

  
Drew declared that if they could share a couch without killing each other than they could share a bed where they had more room to spread out. Neil was glad to be able to sleep in the same room as him again, he certainly wasn't going to argue over the arrangement, not when it included Drew and a mattress. He didn't make any comment over Drew claiming the spot against the wall, he just slid into the bed making sure there was plenty of space between them for Drew to feel comfortable and let his eye's drift closed staring a Drew next to him.

  
They found the rest of the things Drew had claimed he would need for college life the next morning, including the late addition of a safe so Neil could keep his binder locked up, a coffee machine because Drew wanted to try the ridiculously sweet pod flavours and a suitcase to fit all his new clothes. After lunch they moved onto weapons. They found a few sets of throwing knives that passed Neil's close inspection as well as a few concealable blades to add to their collection, which they took back to the house to begin training with.

  
Neil set up several targets in the backyard and ran threw the basic with Drew. Showing him how to balance them and the correct stance to throw them before moving on to the targets. Drew was a fast learner, but he hadn't expected anything less. When he grasped the basic of throwing knives, he took a look a Drews skills with knife fighting. Unwilling to actually draw a blade on him, they went through the different grips and basic attack and defense moves to use. Renee had been a decent teacher, but her knowledge was lacking precision. Neil spent an hour correcting the way Drew held and moved through the attack. Making sure he kept his balance so that his opponent wouldn't be able to use his stance against him.

  
He didn't have Neil's speed, but he made up for it with strength and fearless movements.

  
Neil was impressed with this stoic man as a kid, suffering under the relentless abuse of the system. Now, Drew hadn't grown comfortable, he had fought his way into a position where he could defend and protect him and his and he showed no desire to stop learning how. He didn't shy away from the horrible things in life. He took it in his stride and did everything he could to change and stop them. He was more than Neil had expected to find.

  
They came to an easy agreement, that the others could do without them for another night, and spent the rest of the day comfortably side-by-side watching mind numbing programs like house hunter and the great British bake-off (which only served to show off Neil's accent, while Drew made terrible jokes about his heritage). Before spending another night in the same bed together.

  
He may have been against getting dragged out shopping for things he had never needed before, but he was grateful for the peaceful weekend alone with Drew. He couldn't imagine anything better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell how self-indulgent this story is so far?  
> It's really nice to see that there are people who enjoy reading this as much as I like writing it!  
> I promise to bring in more complications soon. I need to keep working on the next few chapters, so to keep me motivated, please continue to leave comments! Tell me what you like about this so far, and any thoughts you might have about the story. I love reading them!  
> Thanks Every-one!


	5. Chapter 5

It took Neil three days of scrubbing, organising, filing and general cleaning, to get Wymacks apartment to a state that he could stand, and continuous maintenance to keep it that way. Wymack was impressive in the sense that he could tell you anything you wanted to know of the top of his head, and arrange anything you might need within hours. But for the life of him, he could not find the accompanying paperwork or documentation without pulling his entire office apart and scattering files everywhere!

  
Wymacks constant state of flux actually helped Neil to relax more in his presence. The man was so occupied by his own thoughts, it was hard to see him getting angry enough to take it out on him. If Nicky was right about Coach and Abby being together, he could imagine that this was why they weren't living together. Abby's house was neat and tidy at all times, even with four grown men sleeping in her guest rooms. Wymack could barely find his coffee after putting it down, Neil had proof of this in the 5 - 10 mugs he dropped into the dishwasher each night. Not to mention the ashtrays on every available surface that had a tendency to overflow if Neil didn't empty them each day.

  
After a week he had managed to settle into a routine. When Wymack got up before dawn each morning for his coffee and cigarette, Neil got dressed and hit the pavement for his morning run. After breakfast he jogged over to the foxhole to meet up with the others for weight training and drills, a brief scrimmage after lunch that usually ended with Aaron storming out for one reason or another (surprisingly, not usually Neil's fault). Each night, Drew would pick him up to train with their blades, or just to talk and smoke.  
It felt like Oakland again. Knowing that he would be sitting next to Drew alone for a few hours each day. Even if they didn't speak, it was calming just being in his presence.

  
The weeks passed quickly until he was faced with a whole new task. Moving Day. The Tower was finally open and all the athletes would be coming back over the next two days and moving into their dorms. A few weeks ago all he would have needed was to grab his duffle and head over. Now he had all this stuff Drew had insisted he needed and it would take him several trips to get it over there if he couldn't borrow a car or beg Drew for a ride.

  
Coach steadfastly refused to allow him to burrow his car. Apparently he expected to see a drivers licence before he was willing to hand over his keys. It wasn't like he couldn't _drive_ , he just didn't have a licence with Neil Josten written on it. Or any licence, now that he thought about it. Coaches answer had been call Andrew or wait for Matt (his soon to be roommate) and beg them for a ride. Unwilling to wait for a stranger to appear and help him with his shit, Neil jogged over to the Tower in hopes of finding Drew.

  
Drew stood with his family in the middle of one of the dorms, staring at the haphazardly stacked pile of boxes and bags as Kevin and Nicky argued about how to set the room up.

  
Neil knocked on the door softly, gaining Drew and Aarons attention. "Hey, is there any chance you can help me bring my stuff over? It's a bit much to walk over with."

  
Drew cast his eye over the mess and his arguing family with a sigh. "No. If I leave some-one will end up dead."

  
Aaron rolled his eyes and disappeared into the bedroom. "This is why I only travel with a duffle, you know."

  
"Then you would be sleeping without so much as a pillow, idiot." Drew stated, pulling his keys out of his pocket and tossing them at him. "Why didn't you borrow Coaches car?"

  
"He wouldn't hand the keys over without sighting a driver's licence." Drew smirked, the closest he would come to a laugh in front of other people.

  
"Don't scratch my car."

  
"Wouldn't dream of it!" Neil grinned. "Thanks Drew!"

  
He was almost at the stairwell when he heard a raised voice, "You let him take the car!"

  
The car was nice to drive, he could feel the power just waiting to surge forward under his touch and it handled like a dream. He understood why Drew was so particular about it now, he would love to get it on the highway and see how fast it could go when it was pushed. But he had a job at hand that didn't require highway driving, unfortunately.

  
It took him two trips to bring down all his stuff from Wymacks, and leaning against the GS looking at it in front of the Tower, it was going to take another two trips to get his shit up to his dorm. A rusted blue pickup pulled up beside him as he tried to piece together a way to do this in one trip.

  
"Dude, you really picked the wrong car to steal!" The driver stared wide-eyed at him as he climbed out.

  
"Excuse me?" Neil asked dumbfounded by the words of this 6 and a half foot tall giant. The man wore cargo pants and a polo shirt with a 5 O'clock shadow despite the early hour. If standing in front of the Tower didn't tell you that the guy was an athlete, than the bulky arms and shoulders did.

  
"No offense buddy, but that's the last car in the lot that you want to be messing with." His voice wavered as his eye's flitted to the building. "I know the owner and he will fuck you up!"

  
Huh, Drew must have a reputation when it comes to his car. He bit down a smirk at the idea of this man being afraid of 5 foot nothing Andrew, enough to warn someone off messing with his things. But that did not stop the irritation rising in the back off his neck.

  
"Not stealing, not messing with," Neil pulled the keys out of his pocket, holding them up for the giant to see. "Borrowing."

  
He opened the trunk and began pulling out the first round of bags to carry up, and closed and locked the car while the stranger stared at him oddly.

  
"Andrew doesn't let anyone touch his car," he blinked slowly, "who are you?"

  
"Neil. And obviously, Drew lets me." Neil adjusted his bags across his body. "Who the hell are you?"

  
"I'm Matt," The guy stumbles, breaking out in a huge smile as something clicks. "You must be the new striker!"

  
"You must be my roommate." Neil responded, drily. "I'll see you up there."

  
Maybe it was rude to leave him standing there without offering to help, but he didn't appreciate being accused of stealing Drews car. Not that he wouldn't steal a car, but he wouldn't steal _Drews_ car. He dumped his shit in the dorms bedroom and went back for the next round, taking the stairs to avoid running into his new roommate. He repeated the trip up dumping his shit into a pile and headed back out to return the keys.

  
Matt was in the hall chatting to an excited Nicky about his break. Neil eyed them both until they stepped out of the doorway, allowing him to stick his head in and call for Drew. The pile in the centre had dwindled down to a few bags and the room looked more neatly arranged now. He caught Nicky's not so quiet 'we don't know, but don't ask.' comment to Matt as Drew stepped into the main room, throwing a bored glance in Matts direction.

  
"Hey, thanks for the loan." Neil said softly, leaning on the doorframe and tossing the keys back. Drew caught the keys and shoved them into his pocket.

  
"Tell me you brought the pod machine with you?" Drew sighed, judging by the question Neil assumed the others were still arguing.

  
"Of course, but I don't have any milk on me."

  
"That's fine. I do." Drew walked off towards the kitchen.

  
Neil shrugged and went back to his room to dig the coffee machine out of his pile of crap and set it up on the kitchen bench, before digging out the rest of the kitchen ware they had bought and putting it away in the cupboards. Leaving two mugs on the bench along with coffee pods of various flavours and sugar.

  
"Got somewhere I can hide at least one full sized body?" Drew asked, setting the milk down on the bench and running the machine through a cleaning cycle.

  
"I'm sure I can find some-where." Neil finished packing away his kitchen things. "Who are we killing first?"

  
"Day. First it was Nicky, then it was Aaron, but it's always Kevin. I think he forgets he's not an only child anymore."

  
"At least he'll have the rest of the team to pester soon. When are we meeting them at the court again?"

  
"In an hour and a half. Enough time to get you unpacked anyway."

  
"You don't have to help me." He said watching the way Drew made their coffee's with practiced movements. 

  
"I don't plan to. But I'll hang around and watch to get away from that lot for a while."

  
Neil laughed as he accepted the mug Drew pushed towards him. It seemed fair. Neil went to the bedroom and set up his bed on one of the lofts, unpacked his clothes and installed the safe in his closet. Drew grabbed his school things and claimed one of the desks in the common room for him. Matt walked in and out, shooting them both quizzical glances as they organised his things and ended up on his desk by the window sitting side by side when they where done.

  
"Do I need to buy food or is the athletes hall actually alright?" Neil asked Drew as the watched Nicky and Matt manhandle a couch into the room.

  
"It's fine for meals. They don't stock any decent snacks though, and if you want your fruit throughout the day, you'll have to buy that." Drew watched the way Matt was shooting them looks. "Did something happen with you and Matt."

  
"He pulled up beside me and accused me of stealing your car."

  
Drew huffed a laugh as Matt grumbled about no-one being allowed to touch the GS before.

  
"I told you not to ask." Nicky patted Matt sympathetically. "Hey Neil, think you can run circles around Matt too?"

  
Neil shrugged. "Which one is he?"

  
"Boyd, number 4" Drew supplied, confusing Matt by the turn in conversation.

  
"Number 4. He's actually half decent, we'll have to get on the court and find out."

  
"What?" Matt asked, looking to Nicky for an explanation.

  
"The kid's been running Aaron and I into the ground all summer. Tag, your it." Nicky laughed disappearing into the hall.

  
"So, are you good then?" Matt spoke to Neil directly for the first time since the parking lot. 

  
"Dunno. I need some decent opponents before we'll be able to tell."

  
"This," Drew smirked, "is why Aaron wants to murder you."

  
"He can try." Neil grinned, baring his teeth in a manner that was decidedly unfriendly. Drew used two fingers to push his face away, making Neil laugh.

  
"Come on. We'll see you at the court Boyd."

  
\-----

  
They were the first ones to the foxhole and Neil watched in amusement as Kevin Aaron and Nicky piled onto one couch together, directly across from the door, and Drew sat on a loose ottoman in front of them. The first thing the rest of the team would see as they walked through the door was Drew perched protectively in front of those morons like a warning.

  
"Is this a statement of some kind?" Neil chuckled, as he made his way around the room, deciding where he would fit into this team dynamic.

  
"The rest of the team have a tendency to forget not to touch my things." Drew drawled. "Maintaining a visual reminder seems to help them remember."

  
Neil shook his head and claimed one of the single couches at the side of the room, wondering who would end up sharing the remaining couch and who would take the singles.  
Matt was the next through the door, followed closely by two girls. The first, a black woman with her hair tied back and a sharp grin. Neil remembered her as Dan Wilds, first female Captain in Class I Exy, he got the impression that she could back that title up every day of the week. The next was blonde, with the ends dip dyed in pastel rainbow colours that were at odds with the silver cross around her neck and the darkness that lurked in the back of her eye's that set Neil on edge.

  
 _Experience with gangs and wields a knife like nobody's business._ This must be Renee.

  
"That is not what I expected her to look like." He commented to Drew.

  
"Looks are deceiving. You should know that."

  
"Hello, Andrew. How was your summer?" Renee asked serenely, glancing between him and Neil briefly.

  
"Every-one is alive." Drew said blandly. "And yours?"

  
"Wonderful. Dan was wondering if you had broken our new recruit, but Matt says he's perfectly fine."

  
"Dan could ask him herself." Drew suggested, already losing interest in the exchange.

  
Renee smiled and sat down on the couch with Dan and Matt. Dan was studying him openly, tapping a steady beat with her foot as Matt avoided eye contact with their side of the room. And with that, he was back to feeling like a bug under the microscope again. He purposely kept his eyes on the photo wall behind Drews family as they waited for the rest of the team. By his count, they were waiting for two more foxes to appear.

  
The first barreled through the door a few minutes later, steam practically billowing out of his ears as he dropped into one of the spare seats and glared at everyone before his gaze settled on Neil. Oh, yes. This was going to be fun.

  
The last walked through the door soon after. Her heels clicking on the floor. She paused in the doorway like she was posing for a magazine in her skin tight dress, before giving a predatory smile and perching herself on the arm of Neil's chair. Slinging an arm around his shoulder to keep her balance. 

  
Neil rolled his eyes and fixed his stare across the room. "There is another chair open."

  
"But I want to sit with you." She smiled sweetly. Aaron gagged and the other guy fumed even more.

  
"Nice to see you've all met." Coach claimed their attention as he walked through the door. "Listen up, we have a few things to get through before your physicals."

  
Neil slipped off the chair and out of the girls grip while the team looked at the Coach, darting quickly across the room and claiming the spare chair. Sitting on the arm with his feet on the seat so she couldn't follow. Nicky snickered as Coach blinked at the change.

  
"Leave the kid alone, Reynolds." Coach started. "I guess that's the first thing on the list. Team meet Neil Josten. Josten meet the rest of the team, Matt Boyd, Dan Wild your Captain, Renee Walker, Seth Gordon and Allison Reynolds. Get to know them on your own time. Second, standard paperwork for you bastards to sign and hand back by tomorrow. Third, Physicals. As the new kid Neil, you're up first, then Andrew and Seth. The rest of you can argue who goes after that." 

  
Neil wondered absently why they needed physicals when they had been playing all summer, but thought it best not to argue.

  
"Lastly, There's been a change to our district." Coach sighed, gaining the attention of the foxes. "Edgar Allen is coming South."

  
The team exploded into half formed accusations and Neil went pale. Ravens. That meant Riko was coming south. It was bad enough being this close to Kevin, Drew could at least sway Kevin if he remembered him. But, Riko was a whole different matter. If Riko recognised him than he was dead. His stomach turned at the thought and he found himself eyeing the trash can in the corner.

  
The room went deadly silent in a matter of seconds. Neil followed the teams collective gaze to Kevin and Drew. Kevin was wringing his hands in his lap and avoiding Drews pointed look.

  
"You knew." Drew accused. "And when were you going to tell me?"

  
"I just... help me.." Neil had never heard Kevin so weak.

  
"How long Day. A day. A week. Longer?"

  
"A month." 

  
Drew growled in response. "A month, that's an awful long time Day. Didn't you think that I might need to know this, so I would know what was coming?"

  
"Drop it Minyard!" Coach boomed. 

  
Neil jumped, drawing the teams attention. He dropped his head in his hand, pulling in shaky slow breaths as he ran through the exits in his mind. Down the hall, last right through the fire doors and out to the parking lot. What then? Plenty of cars here today, he could take his pick, not Drews and not the rusted pickup that Matt drove. What kind of cars did the others have? 

  
How long could he last here if Riko found him. Should he leave now? Drew caught his gaze and Neil read the clear instruction in it. _**Stay.**_

  
"You're first up with Abby, Josten." Drew's voice cut through his thoughts, and gave him an excuse to get out of the room.

  
Neil nodded and headed for the door.

  
Abby was waiting inside. She went over the examines patiently explaining each thing and allowing Neil to perform them when he was ready. She was calm and collected.

Professional was a better word. It went easily up until the end.

  
"One final check, I need you to remove your shirt for." She said calmly, eye's on the clipboard in front of her.

  
"Why?" Neil hissed, startling her out of her thoughts.

  
"I just need to check for track marks and then we're done."

  
"No."

  
"Neil. I can't sign off on you until I check." She explained slowly. "I've worked for the foxes for years, Neil. There isn't anything you could show me that I haven't already seen."

  
Neil shook his head and gritted his teeth. She wouldn't give in. He would have to show her. She would regret it. Nobody other than Drew had been able to stomach the sight of him shirtless before. Even his mother would turn away from him as he changed. He stood up and pulled the shirt over his head, casting his eyes down to the floor so he wouldn't have to look at her.

  
She gasped. He could hear the ragged intake of breath and he knew she would be crying soon. Crying always made it worse. He clenched his fists to stop his hands from shaking and held his arms out.

  
"Look at them and tell me if you see any track marks!" He growled, willing the anger to stay with him so he wouldn't break.

  
Abby's ragged breathing got harder and her voice broke as she answered. "No... No track marks."

  
"Are we done?" He demanded.

  
"Yes" she whispered through tears.

  
Neil pulled his shirt on quickly, making sure it covered everything before he opened the door and slammed it behind him. He could hear Abby's sobs get louder now there was a door between them and it only made him angrier as he stormed back to the team room.

  
When he caught sight of Drew, he burst into a fit of creative cursing. Yelling until he had used enough energy to close his eyes and count to ten, ignoring the shocked looks from the rest of the team. Drew blinked at him until he was finished, leaving him feeling drained and shaken.

  
"That went well then?" Drew grimaced, getting to his feet and standing in front of him.

  
"Coach, I broke your nurse." Neil called, not looking away from Drew. "Guess you'll have to wait a bit for your physical."

  
"I wasn't in a hurry." Drew assured. "What did you tell her?"

  
"Nothing." Neil let out a shaky chuckle. "She was already crying to much to ask."

  
"Is Abby alright?" Coach asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

  
"Physically she's fine. You might want to check on her though." And with that Coach was out of the room and the rest of the foxes were on their feet, demanding answers. Neil took a step back from the onslaught of noise. He needed to get out.

  
Drew glared at them and pulled the keys from his pocket handing them over without comment. Neil stared at the in his hand, trying to figure out what to do next.

  
"Drive." Drew said bluntly, ignoring their protesting teammates. "Don't crash. Pick me up out front in an hour, okay?"

  
"Okay." Neil searched Drews face quickly for any hesitation and found none. "One hour."

  
He jogged out of the stadium and climbed into Drews car like it was the only safe place in the world. He tore out of the parking lot and made his way to the highway. Turning the music up and flooring the pedal.

  
\------

  
Every member of the team tried to get Andrew to talk after Neil left. Even Aaron tried to extort the information out of him. He would have thought they would know better by now. Andrew stood guard in front of the door quietly until Wymack returned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  
When he realised what the foxes were up too he yelled at them about confidentiality clause and how they all benefitted from the doctor patient relationship that Abby maintained with all of them. After explaining that Abby was fine for the fourth time, the foxes began to back down. Accepting that what ever it was, was between Abby, Neil and apparently Andrew. 

  
Andrew turned to Coach when he was done. "Good thing I'm next then. I'm the only one here that won't harass Abby about it."

  
Coach put a hand out stopping Andrew from walking past. "How much do you know?"

  
"More than Abby does." He pushed past to get his physical over and done with. He was working on a time schedule after all.

  
Abby was professional as always, only letting a few sniffles out through the exam. He wondered how broken she would be if she knew Neil patched himself up with vodka and dental floss after most of it. Maybe it was best not to say that. He did give her a calm warning about not pushing Neil to speak about the next time they met or in any exam after. She took the warning with grace, only letting a single tear drop down her cheek.

  
Andrew grabbed Renee from the lounge and stopped by Coaches office when he was done.

  
"Take Kevin home with you tonight."

  
"Why?" Coach looked up from his paper work, bleary eyed and cigarette dangling from his lips.

  
"I can't deal with both of them and Kevin's pissed me off. So, unless you want me to stab him again. Take him home with you."

  
Coach scrubbed a hand over his face. "Alright, Minyard. Just make sure Josten is okay."

  
"He'll be fine."

  
He didn't wait to see if Renee followed him out. She would. The hour was almost up as they hit the parking lot where his car had been earlier. Abram wasn't back yet. They should have bought him a phone. He would take care of that later.

  
"I need a few hours of your time later." Renee looked at him curiously.

  
"What will we be doing?" She asked sweetly.

  
"Sparring. If he's up for it, he might spar with you too."

  
That got her attention. "Does he fight with you?"

  
"No." Andrew answered too quickly. "He won't pull a blade on me, but we have been working together. He has some thoughts about your teachings and wants to see you fight in person."

  
Renee worked through his meaning quietly. He could see the darkness creep across her features as she pieced it together.

  
"What does he work with you on?"

  
"Knife skills." He pulled one of his throwing daggers out of the sheath. "He's been teaching me to throw them."

  
"Oh." Renee took the blade and studied it, weighing the balance in her hand without the precision Abram had shown him. "Where does he stand in our arrangement?"

  
"He doesn't." Was the simple answer. "He is mine for other reasons. He is not tied to me like they are."

  
"Okay. Are you two...?"

  
"No. We have history Renee. It's not like that."

  
They watched the GS pull up in front of them. Abram took a breath in the drivers seat before he got out to join them. Andrew pulled two cigarettes out of his pocket, lighting them both as Neil studied Renee again.

  
"I can be free at four if that suits you." Renee answered sweetly. "Should I meet you?"

  
"No. We'll come and get you. Tell the busybodies to stay out of it."

  
Neil reached out and stole one of the cigarettes from his hand, putting it straight to his lips as he held out the keys in the other hand. Andrew accepted the trade without comment and waved Renee off. Neil watched as she made her way inside before raising a brow to him.

  
"Sparring later."

  
Neil nodded in understanding. "How'd it go in there after I left."

  
"They asked. I didn't tell. Coach yelled for ten minutes and reminded them that they all have shit they want to keep confidential. Abby sniffled through my exam and I warned her not to ask you about it. Coach is going to take Kevin for the night so, we have the afternoon free."

  
"And sparring with Renee at four."

  
"Yep. We need to get you a phone."

  
Neil laughed. "How about lunch first. I could use some food."

  
"Ice-cream?"

  
"Real food, then ice-cream."

  
The ended up in a park, sitting on a bench eating greasy burgers and fries with thick-shake each. Enough fat and sugar to give Kevin a heart attack should he wander across them. Which was the only real reason they had both agreed to it.

  
Andrew took his time breaking the burger into small pieces and washing each bite down with his barely any milk thick-shake. Neil started on the fries first, leaving the thick-shake to melt as he ate. Hoping it would be easier to swallow that way.

  
"How long before they all forget about today?" Neil asked watching the clouds again.

  
Andrew shrugged. Never was the obvious answer. "Tell them to fuck off for a week and they should stop after that. Or cut to the chase and stab the first one that asks."

  
"You said I can't stab your family."

  
"I learned that a blade to the throat tends to discourage talking." Neil laughed, sending him that ridiculous bright smile again.

  
"Ill keep that in mind."

  
\----

  
"What do I need to know about sparring?" Neil asked as they drove back to the tower.

  
"Set your boundaries at the beginning. Follow them. Oh. and don't wear loose shirts. She will use them against you so, you might want to change."

  
"What do you spar in?"

  
"Track pants and muscle shirts."

  
"If I wear that she'll see some of my scars." Neil argued. "Is she the type to break down crying?"

  
Andrew smirked, Renee had never cried in front of him. "Highly unlikely."

  
"Where are we fighting? Will other people see?"

  
Andrew pulled into the tower parking lot and climbed out of the car.

  
"We use one of the rooms in the basement, we lock the door. People have learnt not to bother us." He said as they walked to the elevator. "Get changed grab a water bottle and meet me in the hall. If Matt or Seth give you shit, stab them."

  
"Okay." Neil agreed with a sharp grin.

  
\----

  
Matt and Seth were on the couch with a video game controller each and their eyes glued to Matts TV when Neil entered that room. He slipped past them hoping they would ignore him. No such luck.

  
"Hey man, where did you go?" Matt called as he made the bedroom.

  
"Out!" He called back shutting the door behind him and searching through his clothes. 

  
He kicked his jeans off and pulled on a pair of track pants like Drew suggested. Looking over his minimal range of form fitting workout shirts. He didn't like the idea of anyone seeing his scars if they didn't have too. But Drew was right, baggy shirts were an easy way to be pulled around and thrown to the floor. Well, if he was going to show off some skin, he might as well distract them while he was at it. 

  
He peeled his shirt off and replaced it with a work out shirt that sat close to his skin, not leaving anything to grab hold on, and pulled his old grey hoodie over the top so no-one else would see. He grabbed a couple of knives and shoved them into his pocket before making his way to the kitchen in search of a water bottle.

  
"What'd you do to make Abby cry?" Seth called from the couch, as he searched the cupboard.

  
He found his foxes bottle and filled it with water. "I had my physical. Not my fault she cries easily."

  
"Fuck you, Abby doesn't cry easily!"

  
"We just wanted to know if you're alright, buddy?" Matt cut in.

  
"I'm fine." He said heading for the door. "I'm going out now." 

  
"When will you be - " Neil shut the door neatly behind him, cutting of Matt's question.

  
Drew was up the hall, knocking on Renee's door. "Did you stab them?"

  
"No." He grinned, as Renee stepped into the hall wearing yoga pants and a sports bra. "I'll stab them if they don't get the hint."

  
"You should stab as a warning, more effective that way." Drew stated as he lead the way down the stairs to the basement.

  
"How about we try not to stab anyone." Renee offered kindly.

  
"You say when we're all carrying knives." He added drily.

  
"Andrew said that you won't spar with him. May I ask why?" She asked as they entered the room, Andrew locking the door behind them.

  
"He knows why." He stated, it wasn't his place to explain it to anyone. "How are we doing this?"

  
"Well as it stands you and Renee have never seen each other fight. Do you want to go in blind, on even footing or do you want to watch us first?" Drew teased. 

  
Meaning, did you want the advantage and if you win with the advantage it won't really be a win.

  
"Cute." Neil glared at him. "Alright, what are the rules?"

  
"Tap out. Anything goes but limit the knife damage. Neither of us needs to actually get stabbed."

  
"Sounds fair, how many knives?" Neil asked loosening his shoulders while Renee stretched.

  
"One each or one in the middle? Your choice."

  
"One in the middle." He decided, tossing one of his onto the floor between them and moving to drop the other at the edge of the room with Drew. Taking off his hoodie as well.  
Drews eyes narrowed on him when he tossed the hoodie aside. "Real fucking cute, asshole."

  
Neil grinned at the slight flush in Drews neck and made his way back to Renee who was staring at Drews number on his shirt with an unreadable expression. At least she wasn't staring at his scars.

  
"You call it Drew!"

  
Renee shook her head and dropped into her fighting stance. Neil waited, loose limbed and relaxed. Drew waited just long enough to realise that he wasn't going to move before announcing 'Go!'.

  
Renee hesitated, before going for the blade. Neil danced in kicking her feet from under her before she could stand. Moving back as she rolled to her feet. Her form was good and she struck with speed, knife flashing as she attacked. Neil wasn't one to dodge an attack however. He moved closer, avoiding the blade and using her momentum to throw her to the ground. She grazed her arm on the blade in the fall and almost lost it. She was on her feet a second later, adjusting her grip. This time she tried keeping him at arms length, trying to push him backwards with kick and punches, without giving him an opening. Neil block her blows and delivered his own to hold his ground, targeting her legs. Dancing around the room without either of them getting the upper hand.

  
Neil analysed her form as she attacked and defended. She wasn't bad but it was common street fighting. Too much lashing out, not enough calculation and finesse. When he got a feel for her, he ended it. Landing blow after blow to her arm with lightning speed until the blade was slipping from her hand. Taking advantage of the shock to get in close, twisting her body around and dropping her to the floor. The blade now in his hand and pressed to her throat.

  
She swallowed thickly and tapped the ground twice, eyes wide and breathing fast.

  
Neil stepped back, giving her plenty of space to get back on her feet but unable to tear his eyes away from her yet. Too many fight or flight instincts screaming at him not to lose sight of the threat. This is why he didn't spar. Every fight he had been in since he was a child had been life and death. He didn't know how to pull back and restrain his movements. Didn't know how to see another fighter as a friend.

  
"You were playing with me." Renee accused, on her feet and reassessing him.

  
"The point of this was to see how you fought." He admitted cautiously, tracking her movement involuntarily. "Can't judge that if you go down too quickly."

  
She nodded slowly, stepping back. It was enough to release his attention, allowing him to look over at Drew. Drew studied him from the wall, his expression closed and his stance casual. 

  
"Are we good?" He asked suddenly nervous. Drew knew that he had killed before, but it occurred to him that this was the first time Drew had really seen this side of him.  
"Relax," Drew pushed off the wall, "I already knew you were dangerous."

  
"Gee, thanks." The sarcasm didn't work with so much relief in his voice. "Are you okay, Renee?"

  
Her response came out shaky. "I think I prefer fighting Andrew."

  
"Are you up for a round with me?" Drew asked, his eye's on her hands, she glared in return. "It's okay if you're done for the day."

  
"I lost a round to an unknown opponent, but I can still take you, Minyard." She growled.

  
Neil was beginning to think he touched a nerve with her. "Why does every-one call you Minyard?"

  
Drew shrugged carelessly. "It's one of the few names they can call me without getting a blade to the throat."

  
That made Neil pause. "Did none of them ever ask?"

  
Drew turned his back on Renee, giving him his full attention, in German he said, _"They aren't you."_

  
In the same language Neil replied, _"Would you like me to kill them?"_

  
Drew smiled and stepped closer. _"No. Try not to kill them unless they cross a physical line?"_

  
_"I don't like people hurting you, whatever the line."_

  
_"I know. But remember you gave me what I needed to stand alone. If they need killing, I can do that myself."_

  
_"Just because you can, doesn't mean I won't defend you as well."_ Neil hesitated, running a hand through his hair, then explained. _"Not because you need me to, but because I can't not protect you. Is that.... Do you understand?"_

  
 _"Yes."_ Drew's brow furrowed and he ran a hand across his mouth in thought. _"I am the same with you."_

  
_"Okay?"_

  
_"Okay."_

  
Drew gave him a long look before schooling his features into a blank expression and turning back to Renee. Renee was watching them from the corner of her eye, playing with her phone on the other side of the room.

  
"Are we sparring?" He asked her.

  
"Yes. One knife each, tap out."

  
Neil took Drews place at the side of the room and watched the fight closely. He had spent the past few weeks correcting Drews stance and movement but this was the first time Drew could put those changes into effect against an actual opponent.

  
Renee was faster than him, but she took too long to judge his movements, hesitating where she should be taking advantage. Drew didn't hesitate, he continued to attack at every turn, his movement more grounded then the first time Neil had watched him, but faltered when he should defend. He supposed it was understandable. He never was in a position to just defend, attack was his only way out most times. But it showed Neil where he could work with him, how to improve his blocking and help save his energy for where he needed it. He would teach Drew every thing he could to keep him safe.

  
Renee won. But only just, another minute and Drew would have had her. They were both panting heavily, exhausted from the workout.

  
"Did you see what you needed?" Renee asked picking up her bottle and drinking heavily.

  
"Yes." Neil watched Drew wipe the sweat off his face with his shirt. "I know what I'm working with now. The question is, did you want me to work with you as well? Or are you happy with your skill level?"

  
Drew raised an eyebrow at him, catching the bottle Neil tossed him.

  
"I didn't know that was an option." Renee spoke slowly. "You don't seem like the type to trust easily."

  
"I'm not. Drew trusts you." It should go without saying that he would kill her if she ever hurt Drew.

  
"Can I think about it?" She hesitated. "I'm trying very hard to be a good person, I'm not sure if this would help or not."

  
"It's a choice, Renee." Neil clarified. "I wouldn't force you."

  
"Okay. I'll let you know." With that she unlocked the door and left the room, shutting the door softly behind her. Leaving him and Drew alone.

  
Drew stood in front of him again, closer this time. "The more people around me that can handle themselves, the safer I'll be right?"

  
"The more people you trust that can handle themselves." Neil agreed.

  
Drew hummed in thought. "So, do me a favour then. If you want me safe, don't go anywhere."

  
"If I have a choice in the matter, I won't." Neil admitted watching him closely. "But you know the people who are after me. I won't risk you."

  
Drew grabbed his chin and pulled his head down until their foreheads rested together softly. 

  
"Idiot." He breathed out.

  
"Yeah." Neil agreed.

  
\---

  
Andrew went back to his room for a shower, promising to come by when he was done. After the mess of a day they had, neither was willing to part ways just yet. Especially when Drew had successfully palmed of Day to Coach, keeping Kevin out of their business until tomorrow. 

  
When he entered his dorm, it wasn't just Matt and Seth in there any more, Dan and Allison were spread out on the floor as well. The video games had been packed away and they were now watching some kind of movie and passing around a bottle of vodka. Various soft drinks were scattered over the coffee table.

  
"Hey, cutie!" Allison called when he walked in.

  
"Reynolds." He nodded in greeting, dropping his water bottle in the kitchen.

  
"We're looking at ordering pizza for dinner and making a night of it." Dan called. "Did you want to join us?"

  
He highly doubted that Drew wanted to spend his night off from Kevin hanging around with people he didn't seem to care for. 

  
"Probably not. Maybe next time."

  
"Come on, buddy." Matt joined in, topping up his glass. "It's the first day that the whole team has been here, and you've disappeared for most of it already. Where have you been, man? What are you planning on doing if you're not hanging out in your dorm with us?"

  
"I know you're trying to be nice, Matt. But it's been a long and stressful day. I just want to relax for a while, not get interrogated by a bunch of people I've just met."

  
They all looked up at the knock at the door. 

  
"It's open." Neil called, surely Drew hadn't managed to shower already.

  
No. Renee stepped inside instead, her serene smile pasted on her face again. It was strange to see after the fear and anger he had witnessed earlier.

  
"Hi, are you joining us for dinner?" She asked, a hint of uncertainty lingering in her voice. Neil couldn't hold her need to be cautious against her. He knew what it felt like to be out of your league in a fight.

  
"Unlikely. I think we'll head some-where else for tonight."

  
"Did you kick the monsters ass, Renee?" Seth asked draining his cup.

  
Seth now had Neil's undivided attention, with Neil's hand sliding into his pocket feeling for the handle of his blade. Renee seemed to notice his attention and she stepped further into the room placing her self between him and the group without being obvious.

  
"I beat him this time, yes. It was a close call though." Seth laughed and Neil took a step closer to the group. "It's maybe not the best idea to call Andrew that right now."

  
"Why?" Allison asked loftily. "Did you two finally get together?"

  
"No." Renee chuckled nervously, trying to block Neil's path to them. Neil caught the slight tremor in her hand. "I think it might be a good idea if we didn't refer to Andrew by that name. It's not very polite now is it?"

  
Dan was the first to pick up on her behaviour, sitting up straighter and studying the pair of them. "What's wrong Renee?"

  
"It's really not a good idea to insult Andrew in front of Neil." She answered quietly, gaining the entire rooms attention with her lack of noise. Neil might have been impressed if he wasn't ready to kill them. He didn't take his eyes from Seth.

  
"If you can take the Minyard than you can take the kid." Allison spoke slowly, running her eyes over Neil again.

  
Neil smiled darkly. His fathers smile, when he knew he had some-one right where he wanted them. The others began to sense the danger in his eyes now.

  
"Ah, no." Renee admitted, Matts eye's shot to hers and back to Neil in a heartbeat. "I couldn't beat Neil."

  
The room went silent with that comment. Allison's mouth hung open as they all stared up at him. Neil could see his threat level slowly creep higher in their eyes. Dan's eyes hardened and Seth stared at him defiantly.

  
No-one moved when they heard heavy footsteps enter the room. They all seemed to be on edge and determined to keep Neil and Renee in their sight. Neil kept his focus on Seth, and Renee kept her attention on being the barrier between them.

  
"Interesting," Drew said, walking around the group and into Neil's line of sight. "What did I miss?"

  
"Andrew," Matt laughed nervously, wiping his hand on his pants. "I think your friend is planning on impaling Seth for calling you monster. Any... any chance you can do some-thing about that?"

  
"Is that all?" Drew glanced around the group and motioned for Renee to step aside. "And here I thought some-thing interesting had happened."

  
Renee stepped back slowly and Drew cut through the group, stepping over the tangle of legs and scattered cups, to stand in front of him. "You said I couldn't stab your family but the others were fair game."

  
"I also said to wait until they cross a physical line, before you decide to murder some-one for me again."

  
"Who said I was going to murder him?" Neil raised his hands innocently, the sharp glint of the knife he held catching the rooms attention. "A light stabbing never hurt any-one."

  
"No, but it would ruin my dinner plans." Drew smirked. "And I am not taking you any-where while you're wearing that. Go get changed, I'll wait."

  
"Fine." Neil laughed, turning to walk to the bedroom. "But if you change your mind, I call first stab!"

  
Andrew leant on the wall where he could watch the upperclassmen without moving. It seemed that they were all shaken by Neil's defense of him, though he was unsure why. Neil hadn't been aggressive, he hadn't so much as said a word to them when he walked in.

  
"Did he have you worried?" He asked the group in general, trying to understand the tension.

  
"Renee said that he beat her." Matt commented, still shocked at the information.

  
"He did." Renee confirmed. "Easily. He was just playing with me for most of the fight."

  
Allison's jaw dropped. Even Dan was lost for words.

  
"Why won't he fight you?" Renee asked again. "Surely he could teach you more if you sparred together?"

  
Andrew studied her for a long moment. "That knowledge is not for the class."

  
"Andrew," Dan called for his attention. "Is he a threat to my team?"

  
"No. He is only a threat to those who want to harm him or me."

  
Neil stepped out of the room, now wearing black jeans and a red dress shirt Andrew had talked him into. He would have said that he looked incredible, if he hadn't noticed Neil carrying his 03 Foxes hoodie in his hand. 

  
"I swear, if you wear that I will push you into traffic!" Neil smiled brightly. 

  
"Should have thought about that before you gave it to me!" He teased.

  
"I fuckin hate you." 

  
The whole room stared as they left the dorm. Neil could hear the chatter pick up the moment the he closed the door behind them. Maybe not his smartest move for the day but he wasn't quiet in control of his emotions just yet and the comment about Drew had thrown him. One thing was clear, he would pay for that little display.

  
They don't go back to their dorms that night. Andrew was too frustrated with his family and Neil far too on edge around the upperclassmen to be able to sleep in the same room as them. Instead the find themselves on the roof, backs against the entrance to the stairwell and over looking campus. If Andrew wakes to find Neil curved into his body, face buried in his neck, as the sun rises and thinks it might be the most beautiful sight he's seen, who really has to know.


	6. Chapter 6

Matt and Seth were both snoring when he returned to the dorm. It suited him, it meant he could change and go for his usual run without having to face the inevitable questions about the day before. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide from it. Too much had happened, he had given too much away while he struggled with his emotions. He shouldn't have jumped at Coaches voice. He shouldn't have burst into the room screaming in frustration at Abby's meltdown. He shouldn't have let them see his more unpleasant side, though he didn't regret that one, Seth deserved a knife in the thigh.

  
The foxes had likely already worked out that he was one secret wrapped in another and soon they would start to pick at him too find out more. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle that. Lying just didn't seem right when his existence here was so closely tied with Drew's. The truth, of course, was out of the question.

  
He made a long lap around the foxhole before heading back to the tower. The rhythmic slapping of his shoes against the pavement helping to clear his head.

  
They had two weeks training before classes officially started and today would be the first in a new routine. Gym at 8, drills to follow then lunch and on court training in the afternoon. It was going to be interesting to see how the team functioned on court when they could barely stand each other off it.

  
Matt was moving around the kitchen half dazed when Neil past him, grabbing some close and ducking into the bathroom for a much needed shower. When he came out, Matt was on the couch, mug in hand, and Drew was standing in the kitchen playing with their coffee machine.

  
"There is something wrong with the way you like getting all sweaty before the day has even started." Was all he said when he handed over Neil's mug.

  
"Running helps clear my head. And it's far better than starting the day with a mug of diabetes."

  
"I beg to differ." Drew stated calmly, moving through the room to perch himself on Neil's desk.

  
"Are you enjoying your last Kevin free hours or are you escaping the rest off your family?" Neil asked as he joined him, ignoring Matts obvious eavesdropping and Seth stumbling through the room.

  
"Nicky is now convinced that you've been homeless your whole life, orphaned and starved, and he wants to adopt you." Neil rolled his eyes. "Aarons being a little bitch about me not giving him every detail of our lives. Fucker never cared about my life before him until now and all of a sudden I'm hiding things from him."

  
Neil rolled his eyes and bit back a comment about where Aaron could shove his issues. Drew smirked seeming to sense his unspoken words.

  
At gym Neil watched from his position on the leg machine as Seth and Matt tried and failed at keeping up with Drews weight cycle. Even more funny was the comments being thrown at Aaron for not even coming close. They were identical! Aaron should be able to do everything Andrew could do! Aaron cursed them out every two minutes and Drew remained resolutely silent, sending him a small smirk when he caught him watching.

  
The girls proved to be another problem entirely. Dan and Allison followed him around the gym grilling him on his usual workout regime and offer not so helpful advice over what he should change and why. All with Renee hovering close by to run interference if it looked like he might stab them. Allison wasn't so much interested in working out as she in showing of her barely there workout gear and making eyes at Seth every time she could get close enough to touch Neil. He wasn't sure what her game was but he was certain Seth would take it out on him later.

  
From the gym to the court, the guys managed to pay enough attention to Neil to figure out what every Abby had been upset over was likely connected to the fact that he used stalls to change his gear, refusing to change in front of them. Of course, Nicky and Aaron backed that theory up by announcing that he had been doing that all summer and they were yet to see him in any state other than fully clothed. Comments that would no doubt be passed onto the girls at the earliest available opportunity.

  
Kevin had spent the break running him through perfecting the ravens drills and he was surprised to find that the team ran drills similar to his high school drills rather than what Kevin had been putting him through. When he raised the question about that, Dan ranted and raved at Kevin for wasting their time on Raven crap when he could have been getting him up to speed on fox drills. The team seemed to fall apart after that as Kevin refused to back down and began complaining incessantly about all the ways the foxes were doing things wrong and if they would just listen to him....

  
But they didn't listen and Neil got the impression that this was a long standing argument between Kevin and the foxes. He hadn't meant to start the argument, but that didn't stop Aaron glaring at him as he made his way off the court. If they were going to argue than he had time to grab a drink. It was a good decision considering that when he walked off Coach walked on and proceeded to yell at everyone in sight.

  
"That's one way to end practice early." Drew said catching up with him in the locker room. "Think you could do it again after lunch?"

  
Neil stashed his gear and grabbed his clothes for the shower. "All I did was ask a question. How was I suppose to know it would start a war?"

  
"Kevin has been stepping on toes since he got here." Nicky chimed in, dragging his jersey of his head. "I'm surprised Coach hasn't reined him in yet."

  
"Coach won't say no to Day." Matt scowled across the room. "You should let me pull his head in, Minyard."

  
"Keep your hands to yourself, Boyd." Drew growled.

  
Neil left that argument alone, opting for a shower instead.

  
Neil abandoned Drew to Kevin's incessant rantings at lunch. Earning himself a deadly glare from both twins as he found an empty table. Empty didn't stay empty for long. It started with Matt, who should have had enough reason by now to avoid him, but didn't seem like he was going to give up anytime soon. Matt didn't seem interested in dragging conversation out of him this time, so Neil let him be.

  
Nicky dropped down at the table next, taking Matts presence as an invitation to join. Nicky was happy to ramble about Kevin's history as assistant coach to the foxes, without much input from Neil, and slowly dragging Matt into the conversation of the top five Kevin induced meltdowns at practice. Even Neil could admit, it was amusing to think that every one at the foxhole had a grudge to hold against Day. It made his issues with the guy fly under the radar when they all had issues with him.

  
Finished with his food, Neil sat back and watched the conversations unfold around him when Dan joined the table. They switched from fox meltdowns to holiday antics, which ended in Nicky detailing Neil's first day at Palmetto. Matt and Dan listened with rapt interest as Nicky detailed Neil scathing remarks at Aarons assholery, his shock at Neil's B & E and their slow realisation that Neil and Andrew had history that spanned back years before Nicky had known that he had a second cousin in the system.

  
"Wait, what?!"

  
"You knew Andrew when he was in foster care?" Matt asked carefully.

  
Neil nodded. Half the team already knew this so it wasn't anything to hide now.

  
"What was he like as a kid?" Dan stared at him, playing with her coke. "Was he all murder stabby then?"

  
Neil glared at her. What did they think? That Andrew was born with a knife in his hands and covered in blood. Out of the two of them, that description would suit him better.

  
"You need to re-think your questions." He warned quietly.

  
"We're not trying to be rude." Matt held his hands up. "It's just that he's been so angry since we've known him, was he always like that?"

  
Neil drummed an erratic beat with his fingers. These people really had no clue what Drew had been through in his life. Did they think his childhood was all sunshine and lollypops? Surely those living in Wymack halfway house for stray foxes would know better than that.

  
Drew dropped into the bench beside him and stared at his fingers until he flattened them against the table. "You left me to Kevin. What do you have to be pissy about?"

  
The rest of the table looked immediately guilty at being caught out. "They want to know if you enjoyed stabbing small children when we met as kids."

  
"Ah... Well, this means I can pay you back for the last half hour then." The corner of Drews mouth twitched as he slid his gaze to Matt and Dan. "You will be happy to know that your new recruit gave me my very first blade. I didn't start stabbing people until after I met him."

  
"It's not like I told you to stab people..." Neil defended weakly, shrinking in his seat as the tables attention fixed on him.

  
"Just for that." Drew smirked, standing up. "He also gave me the lockpicks, and taught me how to use them."

  
Three jaws dropped open with that information and Drew winked at him before turning on his heel and leaving. 

  
"Rude!" Neil shouted at his back, Drew flipped him off without turning around.

  
"Did you seriously start Andrews criminal career?" Nicky's voice shook, as he stared wide eyed at the cafeteria door.

  
"Hardly." Neil scoffed. "I gave him the means to defend himself, and find a way out of tight situations. It was the least I could do."

  
He climbed to his feet, picking up his tray. He had another hour until they were due back on court and he wasn't going to spend it explaining the past to his teammates.

  
What he did spent the rest of his break doing, may have shocked his teammates more than his strange past. He found a vacant grassy area behind the library and decided to stretch out his muscles from the continuous Exy practice. Not that he minded the practice, but the movements were some-what restrictive. He went through a yoga series designed to stretch and strengthen his core, before moving onto a few things he had learned thanks to four months of gymnastics in Maine and six months of cheerleading in a small town outside of Chicago. It might seem strange to the other exy players, but it did wonders towards stretching out his back.

  
Gossip spread like wildfire. It seemed the entire team was weighing in on how much Neil had influence Andrews criminal behaviour over the years now that they knew he had taught him how to use lock-picks and that he had used them himself to break into the foxhole on his first day. The speculation about who Neil was and where he came from was starting to make his skin itch. They smiled to his face and whispered behind their hands.

  
The weight of their stares left him frustrated. Unable to deny the truth, he funneled his frustration into the scrimmage. Using all his footwork and the precision drills Kevin had insisted on to duck through Matts defences and score on Renee's goal. Even bowling Matt over a couple of times, when Matt realised that Neil wasn't going to back down without a fight. It was far more challenging than playing against Nicky and Aaron had been, unfortunately foxes couldn't seem to hold a scrimmage for longer than ten minutes at a time before a fight broke out. Half of them had Seth in the middle, the other half had Day and on a few occasions Dan and Allison were at each others throats. It was hard to keep up with why, and Coach seemed happy to let them fight it out on their own terms.

  
"How do you do it?" Neil asked as they sat on the edge of the roof that night. "The entire team is a shit-show. How do you get through a single match without killing them?"  
Drew stared out at the lights that illuminated the campus. "It's worse this year, now that Day is on court with us."

  
Neil watched the wind whisk away the curl of smoke from their cigarettes. The wind was cool tonight, he should have brought Drews hoodie up with him. "Why?"

  
"Kevin only arrived at the foxhole after Christmas last year, and he was in no condition to play. Coach made him an assistant, basically he was just the mouthy asshole who raved at us in the locker room. We didn't really pay him too much attention. Listened to the tips and advice, yes. But spent the rest off the time tuning out the constant stream of insults that he produced.

  
Pretty easy to insult some-ones playing when you can't face them on court. Now, we all have to face Kevin as a player not a has-been. They, Seth in particular, are having to accept that Kevin's criticisms have value."

  
It made sense. Seth wasn't exactly the type to swallow his pride and he was far from the player Kevin was, even playing with his non-dominate hand. It must be hard to admit you were wrong to some-one as arrogant as Kevin.

  
Drew nudged him out of his thoughts with his knee. Neil couldn't remember him pulling his phone out of his pocket, but it rested in his hand now.

  
"Kevin wants to run through Raven drills with you, for a hour or so. Yes or No?"

  
Part of his deal had been for Kevin to stay out of his personal life, extra drills didn't exactly live up to that. But, he had a choice, and if he was honest he had improved three times over with the drills Kevin had been putting him through all summer. If he was going to make this work, he would be stupid to turn down Kevin's coaching.

  
"Yes." Neil said at length. "Can we come back here after?"

  
Drew studied him, with some-thing he couldn't place lurking behind his eyes. Neil wanted nothing more than to peel back the layers to find what he was thinking, but he trusted Drew to tell him when he was ready.

  
"Yes."

  
\---

  
It became routine. Each day the same, with the foxes tearing into each other at every available opportunity. By the end of the week they were coming together during scrimmages, but the fighting continued off the court and throughout drills. Neil found himself gritting his teeth and waiting for the end of the day where he could get his time alone on the roof with Drew. That too, became routine, the highlight of his day, providing him with the much needed relief from dealing with the team.

  
"I'm leaving tonight, after practice." Drew told him at lunch on Friday.

  
Well, this was new. 

  
"Okay..." Neil said trying to understand what Drew was saying.

  
"They want to blow off some steam, so we're going to Columbia for the weekend. I would have asked you to come, but Aaron has threatened violence if he doesn't get away from you for a while. And frankly, I'm not sure night clubs are really your scene."

  
He pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, shaking two out and lighting them. The look Drew cast him when he held out one in offering made it clear that his unease hadn't gone unnoticed. It wasn't that he had to be around Drew 24/7, it was just an unexpected change in routine. A routine that he shouldn't be so comfortable in. His mothers voice rang in his head screaming 'routines will get you killed'.

  
He was alone for a year after her death, he knew better than to get comfortable and reliant on others. And Drew... Drew had his own life away from him. He always had. He couldn't expect that to change, and he wouldn't. He wouldn't cause conflict in his life. Drew deserved better than that.

  
"Somehow, I can't picture you on the dance floor." He teased, attempting to lighten the mood.

  
Drew scoffed. "I don't dance, and if Aaron is anything to go by, me dancing would not look any good."

  
Neil laughed. Only Andrew could use the twin thing as a valid argument. "What do you do at a night club if you don't dance?"

  
"I drink, and I make fun of those that do." Drew looked across the quad to where Nicky and Kevin were arguing under a tree and Aaron was sitting 5 feet away staring at his phone with his earphones in.

  
"I guess that means a nice quiet weekend for me. No practice and no Kevin." Neil grinned, he might actually sleep in for once. Maybe not, but he could nap through the day.

  
"We'll be back Sunday morning," he said, pulling out a small black box from his backpack and dropping it between them, "I'm assuming you know how to use one of these?"

  
Neil opened the box to find a smart phone and charger nestled inside, he picked the phone up to examine it. "What is it? A camera, a bomb, a tracker?"

  
"Fuck off." Drew said without heat, Neil laughed. "It already has every-ones numbers in it. Do me a favour and try to keep it on you."

  
Neil hummed in responses, turning the phone on and scrolling through the contacts list. The first thing he did was change Aaron to Asshole and Andrew to Drew, Kevin he changed to Day and Wymack he switched to Exy Dad. Beside him Drew huffed a laugh at the changes. For Nicky he discover a rainbow emoji and cannabis leaves for Seth.

  
"Figures that the first thing you would do with a phone, is use it to act like a little shit!"

  
"What were you expecting?" Neil exited the contacts and brought up the camera features.

  
"I don't know. A long winded rant about how you would never use it, or contact the people in it." 

  
Neil snapped a picture of Drew mid rant with a smirk on his face.

  
"Oh, I fucking hate you!" Drew glared at him.

  
Neil smiled brightly, reveling in Drews stony annoyance. "Keep it up, and I'll send you photos every five minutes while you're out dancing, just to annoy you!"

  
"You annoy me every five minutes anyway." Drews neck flushed as he glared across the quad. "It wouldn't matter."

  
"Challenge accepted!"

  
\----

  
So it wasn't ever five minutes as threatened, but Neil did take to documenting the rest of his day after Drew had left, through photos take were quickly sent on. Drew was getting a front row seat to every inconsequential detail he could find, until he broke and told Neil to stop. So far he had captured the meal he had for dinner, the argument that broke out between Seth and Allison in the hall, a series of mid-eating shots of their teammates, the path he had taken back to the tower, the freshly made coffee in his favourite mug and his feet up on the couch with the upperclassmen sprawled on the floor watching some horrible movie.

  
"Dude! What the hell are you doing?" Seth complained at the flash from his phone.

  
"Seeing how long it takes Drew to regret giving me a phone." He smirked as the group shot him strange looks.

  
"You could just give it back." Renee offered nicely. "I'm sure he would understand if you didn't want it."

  
"Nah.. This is more fun. And who said I didn't want it?"

  
"And your life goal is to annoy the psychotic midget that we know is capably of beating four men to death at once?" Matt asked incredulously.

  
"Relax," Neil shushed him. "He didn't actually kill _those_ men."

  
"That.... Did not make me feel any better." Dan shook her head sadly.

  
Neil grinned, making them uncomfortable was becoming an amusing pastime. He found he could walk the fine line of not lying and not telling them the truth, much easier when they were off balance and unwilling to hear details.

  
When the novelty of making the upperclassmen uncomfortable wore off, aka when he was bored out of his mind with the shitty movies they were playing, he snapped a final picture for the night of his pillow. With some creative arrangements, he climbed into bed with his phone on charge next to his pillow. Seconds from closing his eyes, his phone buzzed on the sheets beside him.

  
'Goodnight Abram'

  
It was the first response he had received all night, making him smile. Drew was actually opening his messages rather than simply ignoring him.

  
Neil sent back 'Night Drew' and closed his eyes to the thought of Drew checking his phone in a crowded club just to see what stupid picture he had through next.

  
\-----

  
More students were arriving on campus now. Members of different groups and clubs around the college that had permission to be here early, setting up for the start of semester. It was disorientating to realise that he no longer had and empty space to explore, he now had to dodge people on the path and say awkward hellos to friendly students and their over-active parents. One upside, the campus library was now in operation, and remained empty of any-one but staff or volunteers. 

  
Neil took advantage of this to claim a computer in the back corner and run a quick search of his father and his main associates. There wasn't much to find, Ramirez was named as a hostile witness in the disappearance of some shifty business man in DC, some-thing that would be swept under the rug in a few days and not much else to find. Some abstract magazine had published conspiracy theories into the disappearance of him and his mother, claiming that his father Nathan Wesninski had been falsely accused because clearly all signs pointed to aliens abducting them in the middle of the night. How else could they have disappeared from their beds unseen? 

  
It was laughable. He contemplated taking a picture but figured it was best not to have anything connected to the Wesninski's on his phone. He could tell Drew about it later.  
On his way to the athletes hall, Neil came across a few girls hanging out on his usual yoga spot in workout gear similar to the things that Allison liked. From what Neil could tell at a distance, they were going through a cheer routine and refreshing their memories on the co-ordination and lifts involved.

  
Closer now, he could hear one of the girls complaining that there were no male cheerleaders there yet to rope into practice. Neil was bored enough that the comment peaked his interest.

  
"Did you need an extra pair of hands?" He offered when he was close enough. "I haven't cheered in a while, but I still remember how."

  
"You cheer?" The brunette with the bright pink bow in her hair, stepped forward and studied him with doubt. "No offence, but you're smaller than we are. We need a guy that can hold us up."

  
"You are not that much taller," Neil grinned, "and I am stronger than I look."

  
The blonde behind her giggled some-thing to her friend before stepping forward. This one was around his height and grinning with teeth that were far too white.

  
"I think we're going to need proof before we let you lift us." She looked down her nose at him.

  
"I was just offering." Neil smiled, unsure why some-one would lie about cheering. "If you want proof, feel free to ask for a demonstration."

  
"Alright." The brunette said and began listing a gymnastics routine that included, cart wheels, handsprings and back handsprings.

  
The cheer squad he had been with were just as catty when he had first joined. Neil found himself grinning at the challenge. He loved nothing more than showing up arrogant people, and the blonde reminded him of Kevin.

  
He dropped his bag and motioned for the women to clear a space for him as he stretched and tucked the hem of his shirt into his short. When he was ready, he called for their attention with a wicked smile on his lips.

  
Good thing he had been practicing yoga for the past week. He would have been too stiff to pull off the back handsprings otherwise. But he made it through, letting out a wicked laugh as he stuck the landing and giving the cheerleaders a dramatic flourish at the stunned looks. The other one, with her brown hair pulled back into a braid, that hadn't spoken yet, was now vibrating with excitement.

  
"That was great!" She gushed. "Have you considered joining the Vixens? I'm Emily, by the way."

  
"Vixens? Is that the cheer squad here?" He asked as he re-joined the group.

  
"Yeah. That was actually pretty good." the first brunette conceded. "I'm Marissa."

  
"Sarah." The blonde offered stiffly.

  
"Okay. I'm Neil." He grinned at the quick change in tone. "Did you want me to practice with you now?"

  
"That would be great! Seriously, you should consider joining us." Emily tried again, her smile more genuine than her friends.

  
"I think it would be hard to be two places at once." Neil argued politely. "I'm already on the Exy team."

  
"Alright, you can practice with us. Sarah needs to work on her lifts before practice starts up" Marissa stated easily while Sarah pulled a face behind her.

  
"Just don't drop me!" She glared at him, obviously unimpressed with being the one singled out to need help.

  
He didn't drop her. But she did fall a few times and he caught her when that happened. The problem was that she kept shifting he weight, she didn't seem to have the endurance to keep still once she was in the air. She snapped at him after falling the second time claiming that he didn't know how to lift her properly. Neil took great pleasure in performing the same move with Marissa perfectly, showing that he wasn't the problem.

  
He worked with them for over an hour before they called it quits and he gave Emily his number and asked her to send him the photos she had taken.

  
He wondered what Drew would think of his side adventure as he searched out a café on perimeter road. Down side to offer help, he had missed the lunch hours at athletes hall. He ended up at the place Drew had taken him for dinner at the start of the week. Ordering gourmet sandwiches and fruit salad. Athletes hall wasn't bad, but this was better.

  
He remembered to take a picture about halfway through. 

  
\-----

  
"Dude I thought you would be more social with Andrew away for the weekend." Matt started as Dan filled his hair with brightly coloured hair ties in an attempt to see how many she could get in his hair. "But, you don't really join in with any conversations at all."

  
They had been rating their favourite car movies in order and before that they had been arguing over which Disney princess suited them best?

  
"I don't join in because I have no clue who the fuck Mulan or Cinderella are." Neil defended. "There is not a whole lot I can add to that conversation."

  
"Have you seriously never seen a Disney movie?" Dan asked around a mouth full of hair ties.

  
"No... And I have no clue who Brian or Terreto are either!" Neil said pulling out his phone and taking a photo of Matts hair.

  
"That's just depressing..." Matt muttered.

  
"Are you still trying to piss Andrew off?" Dan pointed to the phone in his hand. "Are you sure he hasn't blocked you?"

  
Neil shrugged. "He's too stubborn to block me without yelling at me first. We'll find out tomorrow."

  
"What kind of photos have you even been sending him? I can't believe your only sending him pictures of us watching tv."

  
"Everything. The scenery on my morning run. The passed out athletes in the stairwell. The burial plot I picked out for Kevin. Seth when he's too high to function."

  
"Right...." Matt scratched the back of his neck. "Have you considered therapy?"

  
"No." Neil grinned. "But I think I'll head to bed."

  
This time when he sent Drew a photo of his bed. He got a photo in return. Kevin with his head resting on a table, scattered shot glasses around him and multiple cocktail umbrellas sticking out from his hair.

  
'your evening looks more interesting than mine, Night Drew'

  
'Hardly. Goodnight, Abram.'

  
\------

  
Neil found himself back amongst the cheerleaders on Sunday. This time there were six of them and one of the male cheerleaders they were hoping for on Saturday. It meant that they could work on a few of the more complicated group lifts and tosses for their routines, and Sarah had some-one else to blame for her poor balance.

  
A couple of hours later and covered in sweat, Neil had a new appreciation for the Vixens. They worked just as hard as any other athlete to perfect their skills and they had better teamwork than the foxes at each turn. If the got caught up in fighting with three people in the air, some-one would end up with broken bones.

  
"Neil!" Emily called when they were done. "Will you be joining us tomorrow."

  
Neil shook his head and downed half his water bottle. How Emily was still smiling was beyond him, maybe it helped to be on top of the pyramid rather than below it. 

  
"I have my own sport to practice, you know. I can't keep picking Sarah up for you."

  
"Yeah." She sighed, looking back at Sarah. "She's having some problems. We might have to change her position if she can't pick it up soon."

  
"Hey Kate, isn't that your boytoy?" Charlie, the male cheerleader called across the group.

  
Katelyn followed his line hand gesture with a smile, her face falling when she found the guy Charlie had pointed out. "No... He doesn't smoke, that's his brother." 

  
Neil glanced over with the rest of the group and spotted Drew on the back steps of the library, cigarette in hand, watching them. He should have known Drew would be able to find him.

  
"Don't tell me you have a thing for Drews brother," Neil teased. "That guys an asshole."

  
Neil waved them goodbye, ignoring the way Katelyn's face crumpled at the jibe about Aaron, and grabbing his stuff to head over to Drew. She should know what she was getting herself in for and he wasn't going to apologise for pointing it out.

  
Drew leaned back on the stairs when Neil made his way up to join him, smirking at his sweaty clothes and the bandana he was using to mop his face with.

  
"I thought you signed an Exy scholarship?"

  
"Do they have scholarships for cheerleading?" He grinned dropping onto the step beside him. "They've already offered me a place on the team. I could switch."

  
Drew chuckled quietly. "I can't wait to tell Kevin that you're cheating on him."

  
Neil laughed, of course Kevin would see it that way. "It's a healthier mistress than vodka!"

  
"I don't think he would agree." Drew nudged him with his foot. "You stink. Have you eaten yet?"

  
"Nope." He admitted, unable to keep the smile of his face with Drew back.

  
"Have a shower and I'll buy you lunch." 


	7. Chapter 7

"Brown is boring."

Neil glanced at Drew who stood studying the different boxes in front of them. 

"That is the point," He stated dropping the box of dye into the cart. "Brown is common, plain and completely unnoticeable. Other colours tend to draw more attention."

"You're doing a crappy job of being unnoticeable." Drew claimed pulling down a box of blue dye and reading the instructions on the back. "Classes don't start for two days and you're already a jock who's on a first name basis with the entire cheer squad."

"Yeah.... that was not planned."

Planned or not, that is what happened. Drew pulled down a box of purple dye, comparing the back to the blue. "You can use it to your advantage. Hide in the masses, effectively."

"None of them follow sports, let alone college Exy. In all fairness, I doubt they expect me to be in the country after Seattle. Mum would have taken us overseas after that."

"Do you think they know about her?" Drew dropped the blue dye into the cart and placed the purple back in the middle of the black hair dye. Neil shook his head, eyeing the blue dye. "Are you cutting your hair as well?"

Neil ran a hand through his hair. It was getting a bit long, it was starting to knot if he didn't comb it. "I'm not good with hair, and I kinda like that it falls over my eyes a bit."

"They have these things, called barbers. And you can style your hair to have it longer on top and clean up the back and sides." Drew gestured to his own hair. Since being at Palmetto Neil had yet to see his hair look messy. It was always neatly groomed and hadn't been left to over grow it's style.

"I don't trust other people with sharp implements."

"Neither do I. I cut my own hair." Drew leant on the handle of the cart casually, tilting his head to the side as he thought. "If you dye my hair, I'll cut yours?"

His mother had been the only one to cut his hair when they were on the run, and then it was only to keep it neat enough not to draw attention. Without her Neil had been doing the same, albeit poorly and without much attention. He had never considered actually styling it. It seemed like more work than was needed. But living with other people for the past few weeks had shown him that spending time to style your hair each morning was considered normal. Matt took half an hour in front of a mirror to comb and spike his hair with gel. Even Seth spent time combing his hair this way and that until he was happy with it. He didn't know what the girls did, but their hair was always neat and presentable until they took their helmets off after practice.

"Okay." If any-one was going to come near him with scissors, he'd prefer it was Drew. "As long as it's not short enough to see the re-growth too quickly."

\---

Red. 

Abrams hair was red. Andrew ran his fingers through the thick, soft hair taking in the hidden colour at the roots. Dye came first, was the instruction, then a hair cut. He pulled on the shitty gloves that the box came with and made up the dye while Abram sat on the kitchen stool, eyes tracking him in the bathroom mirror. 

He wasn't sure how he ended up with this job, he had agreed to cutting his hair not dying it as well. He suspected that it had more to do with Abram being comfortably enough with Andrew touching him, and he wasn't able to pass up the opportunity to get close to him. Self destructive.

The dye made his eyes water, as he went through and applied it from base to tip of each section of Abrams head as detailed in the instructions. Abram kept up a steady one-sided conversation about the courses he had enrolled in for the year. Majoring in Mathematics with a minor in languages. Not exactly courses that would usually go hand in hand. Numbers stayed the same in any language, apparently. He figured that he could always put accounting knowledge to use if he needed a job in the future, and languages gave him the options to travel further if it came down to running again. He seemed to find it amusing when Andrew admitted that he was studying criminology and forensics.

"Why waste all the first hand experience?" He argued, pulling off the gloves and dropping rubbish into a plastic bag beside the sink, before washing it down and scrubbing the spots of dye that had gotten on his arms. "The system is fucked. We can wish and hope that it will change all we like, but the only way to change it is from the inside."

Abram set the timer on his phone for thirty minutes. "Fair point. If there were more people like you in the system I might have considered going to the cops instead of running from them."

"What would happen if you went to the Feds?"

"Most likely." Abram pulled faces in the mirror while he considered. "I'd give them all the information I have. They'd put me in witness protection where I'd end up dead and either the whole thing gets swept under the rug or someone makes an arse of themselves trying to prosecute a case without a viable witness. The whole thing would be for nothing in the end."

"We need some illegal solutions then."

"What we need is for my father and his whole inner circle to wind up dead in some tragic accident and even then, there is no guarantee that I'd be off the radar. I don't know how far his vendetta against me goes."

Andrew hopped onto the counter, with his back to the mirror, propping his feet on Abrams stool. Abram met his eye's and held his gaze as they both silently ran through the many variables in the situation. By rights Abram should be the next to inherit his father’s domain and with the Butcher having no other living relatives, his empire would have to be passed onto one of his partners or underlings. Abrams knowledge of his father circle gave them a good idea of who the most likely contenders were but eight years on the run was a lot of time for things to change.

If Andrew wanted to find a way to keep Abram here without fear of being tracked down, they were going to have to start researching and piecing together a proper plan of attack. The Butchers empire needed to been burned down in every sense of the word. Andrew wasn't stupid enough to believe that they could handle that on their own.

"Why Blue?" Neil pulls him out of his thoughts.

Andrew glances at the box of dye remaining on the counter. "Harry Potter House pride?"

"I don't know what that is." Neil shrugs and Andrew makes a mental note to catch him up with a few key pop culture references.

"I'll explain later. Basically, no-one is stupid enough to comment on any-thing I do at this point. Me showing up with blue hair will distract from anything going on with you, and trust me, they will have a lot to say after we cut your hair."

Like, holy shit the new kid is gorgeous!

"Why?"

"Trust me." Andrew settles for. "I've known these morons for a year now. Plus, I've never dyed my hair before, this could be interesting."

Abram jumps as the alarm blares from his phone. Picking it up quickly to cut off the sound.

"Tea, your majesty?" Andrew deadpans causing Abram to laugh.

Abram puts his full upper-class British accent on to answer. "Why, yes. That sounds wonderful!"

Andrew leaves him in the bathroom to wash the dye from his hair, and goes to the kitchen. He measures the tea, dropping it in the small pot with boiling water to steep, the way Abram showed him a month ago. Abram he had learnt liked coffee through the day and tea anytime after 8pm. The tea he preferred to be made the proper way, loose leaves in a tea pot steeped and strained, tea bags were an abomination. He has never understood tea, though he also doesn't understand how Abram can drink black coffee either. For his own coffee, he settles on the caramel pods, even with the sweetened flavour Andrew adds several spoons of sugar and a dash of milk before it reaches his personal level of drinkability.

Abram joined him in the kitchen, hair damp and sticking up at random angles, towel slung around his neck in time to watch as Andrew poured he precious tea through the strainer.

"I bought tea bags..." Abram says absently towelling at his hair.

"You hate tea bags." Andrew argues. "I did not sit through your hour-long rant about this to hear it all over again."

Abram laughs and picks up his tea. "True. I bought them mainly because Matt has tried and failed to make me a decent cup of tea a couple of times now. The teabags are to help him out. Not ideal, but any idiot can drop a teabag in a cup and add boiling water."

"Does he know how highly you think of him?" Andrew deadpans. Abram lifts a shoulder, unconcerned about what they might think. 

"How long will it take you to cut my hair?" 

"20" Andrew guesses, that's about how long he takes to do his hair it can't be far off.

"Then we should put the dye in your hair first. That way you can wash it out when we're done." Abram decides.

Andrew just grabs his coffee and heads to the bathroom again, this time claiming the stool that they've placed there while Abram sets his tea on the bench and picks up the box of dye. He skims the instructions quickly, the opposite to what Andrew had done earlier, and sets about making up the dye. Unlike Andrew he doesn't put the gloves on until he's ready to apply it to the hair.

"Yes or no?" Abram questions with his hands hovering above Andrews hair, giving him a chance to back out.

"Yes." Andrew says confidently.

Abram cards his fingers through his hair once before applying the dye. Andrew watches keenly. He is quick and efficient in his movements, using his fingers to massage the dye down to the roots. The smile on his face is worth the colour change on its own, Abrams hands running through his hair is the added benefit. Andrew finds himself relaxing into the touch and enjoying the impromptu head massage. His imagination screams that Abrams fingers linger longer than necessary, and he fails to squash the thought.

"How does it feel to have a real home for once?" He inquires. Abram has a way of making him forget that he can filter his thoughts. Andrew is cursing himself inwardly at the down-turn in Abrams mouth.

"What makes it a real home?" 

"Four walls, a roof and a door that locks." Andrew begins before remembering that Abram needs more than that to feel safe. "Friends, people who have your back and you can call at three am for any reason."

"Soo... You."

"What?" Andrew falters.

"You." Abram smiles shyly. "You have my back. I can call you in the middle of the night and know you'll pick up. You keep all of my secrets without question and don't judge me for the things I've done. But your standards, that's home. You're home."

Andrews mind runs at a million miles a minute, trying to reconcile Abrams words and their reality. His version of home had always been a door with a lock and people who were not a threat if he forgot to lock it. Abram was different. A locked door did not mean safe for him. Four walls meant trap. 

Trust was a more valuable assets and one that almost no-one offered him. Even his Mother had failed to trust him, seeing too much of his father in his features or his eye's despite they fact that they had both worked to mould Abram into a weapon. Her weapon was acceptable and his was not in her eyes. Abram had walked that line from both parents his whole life. He didn't want either of it, but he had never been given the chance to find out if he was anything beyond them. Andrew wanted him to have that chance.

"It's not just me." Andrew stated feeling guilty. "The foxes would all come out if you needed them. That's part of what makes us all foxes. We choose to be here, when every-one else turns away. Yeah, we fight and argue but when it comes down to it... You could call Seth at 3am for a ride from the middle of no-where and if he couldn't get you himself, he would arrange some-one to help. 

I'll be there for you, every step of the way." Andrew assured, meeting Abrams gaze in the mirror as he pulled the gloves off and began cleaning up. "But you have more than me here. You should take advantage of that where you can."

Mostly Andrew was worried that keeping Abram to himself would screw up his chances for finding some-thing or some-one better than Andrew. What-ever fucked up feeling he had for his friend, Andrew wasn't willing to risk Abrams safety for his own selfishness.

"You are home for me." Abram declares with complete certainty, sending him a challenging glare before allowing his gaze to soften. "But... I guess I could make a few more friends. Don't expect me to buddy up to Day or the look-a-like though!"

Andrew bit his tongue to contain the grin that threatened his features. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Matt walked in while Andrew hair was slicked back with blue dye and he wielded a pair of scissors as he styles Abrams hair. Brown locks scattered across the bathroom floor as he worked. Matt paused at the bathroom door and stared at the pair of them, Andrew shot him a curious glance and otherwise ignored his entrance to focus on Abrams hair.

"I thought you were out partying?" Neil asked calmly.

Matt blinked from the doorway. "Dan got into a fight with a few of the Greek row girls. We decided to cut the night short... Allison and Seth are still out there."

"Greek row just sounds like a pretentious cess pool." Neil comments.

"It is." Andrew agrees without thought.

"Mmmmkay." Matt says struggling to comprehend the scene in front of him. "Imma go to bed. Night guys."

"Night Matt!" Neil sings sweetly as Matt disappears into the bedroom. "How was that for making friends?"

Andrew shrugs. "Could have been worse."

-

Drew was right about the team having something to say about his hair. The upperclassmen had migrated to his dorm room for their morning coffee before Matt drove them to the gym. Still hungover from the night before, the room went silent as he walked in from his morning run. Renee was the only one who wasn't staring at him like he had grown another head. Then again, she would have been the only sober person among them last night.

The silence lasted until he stepped out of the shower. He hadn't styled it with gel the way the rest of the group does, but he did run his fingers through it in the mirror trying to copy how Drew had made it look the night before. That was the maximum amount of effort he could bring himself to spend on hair.

Stepping into the kitchen to make his own coffee came with a chorus of opinions and a piercing wolf whistle from Allison that made the whole room cringe. 

"Neil, buddy. You're looking good!" Matt grinned as Dan whispered some-thing in his ear.

"Ah... right." Neil mumbled into his coffee, hoping that whatever this was wouldn't last long. "Are you guys ready for gym?"

"Christ!" Seth cursed earning a raised brow from Renee. "We've got ten more minutes before we have to leave, why are you soo eager."

"What's with the new look? I was getting the impression you liked looking like a hobo."

Neil had plenty to say to that comment from Allison. Eight years of living homeless has a tendency to leave a few marks after all. Dan cut in before he could organise his thoughts on the subject.

"Where did you even get it done? Nothing would have been open last night." 

"What?" He asked stupidly staring at Matt. "You didn't tell them?"

"Like they would believe me without photographic proof!" Matt scoffed.

Neil shook his head. Drew killing four guys outside a nightclub was believable to them but not Drew cutting his hair in the bathroom sink at midnight? These people had some serious misconceptions around who Andrew was.

Drew sauntered through the door, his blue hair sitting artfully over his forehead, stopping to glance around the upperclassmen with his signature blank expression before he looked towards Neil. Drew inclined his head to the door in silent question. Neil held up a single finger in response, downing the rest of his coffee in a few gulps and dropping the mug in the sink, before following him into the hallway.

Nicky gasped as he stepped out behind Drew. Kevin gave him a quick once over and a brief nod before heading down the stairs. 

_"I didn't think he could get hotter!"_ Nicky rambled in German.

 _"Can you knock that shit off."_ Aaron glared at Nicky. _"It's bad enough that we have to deal with the criminal without you gushing over him!"_

 _"Stop talking._ " Andrew pulled a knife from his bands, twirling it absently in his hand.

Neil eye's darted between the family. He had expected Drew to tell them that he knew German. This did not seem like a conversation they would have in front of him if they knew.

 _"It's not like he understands."_ Nicky states, holding his hands up innocently.

 _"No, but I do and I don't want to hear it!"_ Aaron glares and sets off for the stairwell.

Drew makes a sharp gesture with the knife that has Nicky following the look-a-like. Neil waits for an explanation.

Drew sighs when Neil doesn't move towards the stairs. "Kevin was warned not to mention anything that happened in Millport."

"Why didn't you tell them?" Neil wants to know.

"Why would I?"

It's as simple as that with Drew some-times. "Kevin doesn't speak German, does he?"

"I would not have used it in front of him if he did." Drew assures. "He does speak French though."

Neil makes his way to the stairs and they walk down together. He runs through the Raven line up in his head and settles on no. 3, Jean Moreau, Back-liner. He was French. He wondered if Kevin had a thing for guys wearing the number 3.

"Does that mean that Kevin and Jean were together?"

Drew freezes and falls a step behind on the stairs, a rare show of surprise crossing his face. "You're not even interested in sex, how did you get to that conclusion?"

"I'm not." Neil agrees easily. "But it seems to be a key motivator for the rest of the world. Moreau was the only one who could have taught him, why else would Kevin learn French?"

It made sense to him, Drew didn't seem to know what to make of the idea. "I was given the impression they were just close friends. With Riko being a sadist they became closer out of need. The French was supposed to make Jean more comfortable and be a silent middle finger from Kevin to Riko."

"That explanation sounds more complicated than sex." Neil states.

"Feel free to ask him yourself." Drew decides as the hit the parking lot where the other have gathered around the car. Neil doesn't ask. He files the information away for a later date. Knowing what languages others around him speak, gives him an advantage and options.

Their gym session was cut short thanks to the first day of classes and Coach announcing that they would be playing the Breckenridge Jackals that coming Friday. A wave of curses ran through the gym at the news. Matt must have spotted his confusion because he leant over to explain.

"Breckenridge is a rival school and they are more than happy to play dirty. You're going to have an interesting debut."

"Andrew shut them out of the goal last year," Dan added, sitting on the weights bench across from them. "They'll be out for blood with this game."

"Don't worry, cutie." Allison ran her hand threw his hair, Neil knocked it aside with a glare. "They'll be too busy with Kevin and Seth to worry about you."

"Don't touch me."

"Aww." She cooed, Neil could feel the anger bubbling in his chest at the sound. "You're so cute when you're mad!"

She reached out for his hair again. Neil snatched her wrist from the air and twisted enough to force her to stop without doing any damage. Renee was by her side in a moment, placing her hand on Allison's shoulder and sending him a pleading look.

"Let her go." She says quietly.

"He won't do anything!" Seth sneers loudly behind him. Renee's eye's flash but they don't waver from Neil's.

"She won't do it again." 

"Do you make a habit of stepping in for them?" He demands shoving Allison away from him.

"Yes." Renee straightens, placing her body between him and Allison.

Neil studies her. The dregs of fear and determination still reside in her eyes and her muscles are tensed for a fight.

"I can see why Drew likes you." He admits, glancing to where Drew sits across the room, his expression hasn't changed from the boredom he's shown all morning, and back to Renee. "I don't like repeating myself."

"She got the message."

"He wouldn't have touched her if the monsters weren't in the room to back him up." Seth huffed.

Neil blinked at him. Was that what they thought. That he wasn't a threat without Drew around. He felt his fathers' rage simmering below his skin, he'd like nothing more than to prove how much of a threat he could be to this man. He wanted to find his breaking point. Neil knew firsthand that people broke for different reasons and he had a feeling that Seth wouldn't even last through the first round of his father's old routines. He liked to go for the nerve endings first, with the smallest knife in his arsenal. With all the big cleavers and axes hanging behind him, most thought they were getting off light when he picked up the tiny blade. The shock mixed with pain made their screams echo longer in his opinion.

Fingers snapping in his face brought him back to reality. The images of running blood clearing from his mind as he focus on the hazel eye's in front of him.

"Are you with me, Junkie?" Drew asked slowly. Neil could feel it in his gaze, Drew had known exactly where his mind had gone. A wave of embarrassment washed over him as he pushed the thoughts aside.

"Sorry, yeah... I'm with you.." Neil dropped his gaze to the floor and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I think I should go get ready for class."

Drew hummed in agreement. "Want the car?"

Neil grinned half-heartedly, staring at the Keys Drew held out and shaking his head. "I need to run."

Drew spun the keys around his finger. "Not running away from home, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Neil smiled sweetly as he made his way out of the building, avoiding looking at any of his teammates.

First day meant that each professor was busy doing the whole welcome speal and telling them how great the course work was going to be. Neil took it all with a grain of salt. Of course they wanted you to think that their course would be the most interesting thing ever, they needed you to stay enrolled in it beyond the cut-off date for dropping them. He zoned out for most of the day, his mind running back to how he had reacted that morning. It wasn't the first time his thoughts had gone down that path. Usually it only happened after he had made a conscious decision to kill some-one, not simply because they pissed him off. 

He doodled absently in his notebook as yet another professor rambled at the front of the room. He knew he was far from a good person, and most of the time he was all right with that. He had only killed in self-defence or to rid the world of worse people, he hadn't had the urge to kill without valid reason before and it scared the shit out of him. Was he more like his father than he thought? How the fuck could he justify staying and building a home here if he was just as big a threat to Drew as the people after him.

He hadn't lied when he told Drew that he wouldn't dream of leaving. He wanted nothing more than to stay with him. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this was nothing but pure selfishness on his part. It wasn't really what was best for Drew. Not when he could snap at any moment.

-

Abram was off. His movements had been sluggish since practice began that afternoon and he was barely out-running Aaron on court. The upperclassmen didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, even coming to Neil's defence when Kevin screamed at him for not putting the effort in. Andrew knew that Kevin was right and Neil didn't protest. He stood head bowed as Kevin ranted and Andrew could see the strain in his eyes. Any other day and Neil would be fighting back, pushing harder and bowling over anyone that got in his way. Now it looked like he had given up and that was far worse.

Coach stopped him on his way to the locker room after practice was done. Pulling him aside and waiting for the team to clear out before he spoke. 

"What's going on with Josten?" Straight to the point as always. When he didn't respond Coach continued. "He bailed on gym early today, he clearly isn't working at his usual standard. I can't help if I don't know what's happening."

"Have you considered asking him?" 

Wymack grimaced. "He spent two months on my couch and barely spoke to me. He's not about to tell me what's wrong."

Andrew let the silence stretch out. Wymack was a good man at heart and he had come to respect over the time he had been here. But he wasn't about to become the go between for dealing with wayward foxes. Not even Abram. Wymack seemed to take the hint.

"Just let me know if there's something I can do."

Andrew waved him off and make his way directly to his locker, dropping his gloves and gear inside and pulling out his keys. Abram wasn't in the room yet so he grabbed his clothes to wait outside the shower stalls.

There were more than enough stalls for every fox to shower at once. The place was designed to house a much larger team than it held. So the strange look Matt shot him when he stepped out from his stall was well deserved. Aaron was to familiar with his peculiar behaviour, he only raised a brow on his way past. He was starting to get the impression that Abram was drowning his sorrows under the shower spray.

Abram froze when he stepped out of his stall the find Andrew waiting.

"I wasn't running." He blinked, staring at the keys Andrew held up.

"You're not coping either."

Abram didn't bother to defend himself against that. He leaned back on the stalls and made no move to take the keys. Defiant till the end. Andrew drew a breath and reminded himself that this was one of the things that made him like the little shit so much. 

"I need a shower." He grabbed Abrams hand, shoving the keys into his palm and curling his fingers around them. 

Abram cursed weakly as Andrew disappeared into the nearest stall. 

When he re-emerged into the locker room, Kevin was standing over Neil ranting about all the things he missed during practice. He should have been faster, he should have paid more attention to Matt's footwork, he was sloppy and all this reflected poorly on Kevin. Neil stared into the corner of the room without saying a word. If it wasn't for the slight twitch in the corner of his nose, Andrew might think that he had zoned out entirely.

"That's enough, Day."

"I didn't sign him so he could slack off!" Kevin rounded on him. "If I knew this would happen I would have gone with the other candidates."

Andrew fought the urge to roll his eye's. 

"You went through 104 different files and demanded that we get Neil because no-one else made the cut." He stated slowly, watching Kevin's arrogant façade crack at the reminder. "And you didn't sign him. He wanted nothing to do with you. I signed him."

"Well... shit." Matt said from behind him. Andrew glanced back at the upperclassmen still milling around the room, watching the show, he had forgotten that they were there.

"The kid said no to Day?" Allison smirked. "That must have been a hit to your ego, Kevin."

"Fuck you!"

"Are we going...?" Neil stares at Andrew softly.

"No. We aren't done!" Kevin turns his attention back on Neil with a quick look at him.

"Yes, we are." Andrew interrupts before he can begin his rant again. "Or do I need to remind you about the condition to Neil signing with us."

Kevin's face pinches like he swallowed a lemon whole. He much prefers it when Andrew is silent at his back rather than standing vocally in front of what he wants. Andrew doesn't care. His promise was to look after the fucker and protect him from himself and others, not baby him.

"Let's go." He reminds his family and waits for them to grumble and make their way to the door. Aaron stops short, with Nicky running into his shoulder, when Neil pulls the keys from his pocket offer the back to him. "You're driving."

"What!" Aaron demands as Neil pockets the keys with a shrug. "You won't let me touch that car and he gets to drive it whenever he wants!"

"You would crash my car out of spite. Why would I let that happen?"

"This is bullshit!" Aaron spat, glaring between the two of them as Nicky tried to shove him towards the door. "One day you'll have to explain who this bastard is!"

"Sure," He agrees. "He's a mouthy lil shit I met on a park bench when I was 14. Feel better?"

Aaron cursed all the way out to the car, but Neil cracked the first real grin for the afternoon and Andrews heart grew lighter at the sight.

He directed Neil to drop the others off outside the tower. Giving his family the clear instruction to stay in the dorm and order dinner. Neil did not stir from his place in the drivers seat, letting the car idle while Kevin and Aaron bickered bitterly on the sidewalk. Nicky, to his credit, seemed to be the only one to pick up on the tension rolling of Neil in the car and was gently trying to coax the others inside with promises of pizza and vodka.

Andrew watched them until the last figure disappeared into the staircase inside, aware that Neil was boring holes into the side of his head as he did so.

"Where to now?" Neil asked when Andrew turned to face the road again.

"I am just along for the ride." He admitted. "The question is, what do you need right now?"

Neil tapped his fingers against the steering wheel in an uneven beat, flicking his eye's between Andrew and the road. At length, he nodded once, shifting into gear and swinging the car around to follow the road out of Palmetto and onto the highway.

Andrew sat back in his seat and watched. Neil opened the engine up the moment he hit the highway. Pushing well past the speed limit and weaving through traffic as if the other cars were a mild inconvenience. He did not tense in his seat and get all jumpy like the drivers in every car movie ever made. He did however, abandoned all his masks and allow his emotions to play across his face as they drove. 

Andrew could almost follow his thoughts by watching his face. Fear morphed into anger, than regret and despair. They played on a loop as he tried to process his thoughts.

What impressed him the most, even with his mind full and the car weaving through traffic under his touch, Neil seemed to have an inbuilt radar for traffic police. Slowing down and blending seamlessly into traffic before they hit speed traps, or passed the pigs heading the other way.

"What was it that set you off this morning?" Andrew asked when Neil emotions began yet another loop with him no closer to calming down.

Neil watched a speed trap disappear in the rear-view, toeing the accelerator and lunching the car forward again before he answered.

"Monster." He snarled, letting the anger take control again. "They call you that as if they have any clue what it means."

Andrew could hear the warning bells sounding in his ears loud and clear. "They are foxes for a reason, but you are right... Their version of monster is nothing like our own. Well, other than Renee."

"I could have..." Neil slapped the wheel sharply and growled at himself. "I wanted to. In that moment I wanted to show them exactly what a real monster looked like. And I could have." He confesses quietly. "It would have been easy."

With that, Andrew understands what happened. Neil was terrified of himself. Of the monster he was raised to be, lurking beneath his skin. 

"You are not them." Andrew offers.

"No." Neil glances across at him with a look darker than night. "I am much worse."

Responding right away would only end in resistance with a mood like this. Andrew allows a few minutes to pass in silence as Neil re-focuses on the road.

"Worse than a man who tortures and murders children?" Andrew speaks quietly, not expecting an answer. "Worse than a woman who killed her lifelong contacts to ensure they couldn't turn on her?"

Neil's nose is twitching at his words. His mouth pulls down as he remembers the detailed stories they have shared between them.

Andrew knew that Neil never wanted anything to do with these acts. He only killed when he had no other choice. He never once killed some-one who did not pose a threat.

"Wanting to kill Seth does not make you a monster. Trust me, every single fox has wanted to kill Seth at one point, that's Seth's best talent." Uncertainty wars across Neil's features but there is a glimmer of hope in his eye's. "And you never laid a hand on him. You didn't react, regardless of your thoughts. You stood frozen until I was in front of you. That is not the actions of a monster."

Neil flicks on the indicator and slows the car as he moves to the off ramp. The sun has slipped beyond the horizon while they were talking and the streetlights are standing out more than usual. Neil follows the looping streets before finding his way back onto the highway, heading back the way they came. The more they drive, the more settled Neil becomes and Andrew can only hope that it holds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Kudos and the comments every-one. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to read them!


	8. Chapter 8

\- Matt -

The pre season celebration Thursday night was Dan's idea. He bought the alcohol and offered up the boys dorm for it. Even went so far as to vacuum the room before the girls arrived. It was a good idea, if only they could get the whole team in on it.

Dan had extended the invite to the monsters after practice only to be met with the group looking at a stony faced Andrew for a response that never came. Matt tried to catch Neil on his way out, but the kid was fast. Neil had been avoiding all contact with every-one outside of practices. Darting out of the team room before anyone else had managed to shower the sweat of themselves.

Seth called him paranoid when he mentioned that Neil's bed hadn't been slept in. Yes, he knew that Neil practiced late with Kevin and he knew that Neil got up before the sun to run each morning. The bed was not disturbed at all when it should have been if Neil had managed to sneak in and out again without waking him. Seth however, was dead to the world when he was asleep and did not find anything unusual about their missing roommate.

Matt went about setting the kitchen bench up as a mixing station. He didn't have the first clue about making drinks himself beyond rum and coke, if the other wanted something fancier they would have to make it themselves. Seth was no help either, he didn't care about any of it beyond checking that the fridge was stocked with beer.

The girls walked in with smiles a mile wide, carrying chips and snacks of all varieties.

"Any word from the others?" Dan asked casually, tilting her head to the monsters room across the hall.

Since that first night back in the dorms with Neil and Renee, they had gone out of their way not to say the word monster where Neil might hear. None of them were convinced that Neil posed the threat that Renee had claimed, certainly not in the light of morning, but it was obviously a sore point and Dan wanted to bring the team closer together this year rather than force them further apart. If Neil needed them to veto certain words in order to feel comfortable among them, then that's what they would do.

"I haven't seen any of them since practice." He shrugs.

It's a soft spot. Knowing that his own roommate was avoiding him. Jesus. If he could make things work with Seth on a daily basis than Neil should have been a cake-walk. It hurt more than he wanted to admit, knowing that Neil did not see him as a potential friend.

Dan pat his arm, sensing his unease. "They'll come around. What time does Neil usually get in?"

"He hasn't been here since Monday morning." He admits picking up his beer.

"What do you mean?" Renee asks across the counter, putting her phone down carefully to focus on him.

"I mean. His phone charger is missing and no-one has seen him in the Tower since Monday when we left for gym."

"He hasn't missed a single practice." Allison joins the conversation, glancing around the bottles on the counter.

"Maybe not, but he hasn't been sleeping here."

"Fuck off, Matt." Seth butts in. "Just because you haven't seen him doesn't mean that he hasn't been here. I don't see you half the fuckin time."

"But I see you. And I haven't seen him."

"He can't have gone far if he's still showing up for practice." Renee attempts to defuse the situation as Seth scoffs. "Have you asked Andrew? Maybe he's been staying with them?"

"What's up with him and the monsters anyway?" Seth sneers, grabbing a beer from the fridge. "They seem awfully accepting of the new kid."

Dan sends Seth a disapproving glare. "What is up with that Renee?"

"Yeah, you know the monster better than anyone?" Allison adds leaning on the counter.

"I don't know any details, mainly just what I've seen myself." Renee admits. "Andrew said that they have history and he won't talk about it. Neil won't either."

"Can we make a time-line and figure this out?" Allison suggests, grabbing for the tequila.

"That..." Dan considers. "Is not actually a bad idea. Give me five minutes!"

Matt watches as she hightails it out of the room. The others watch on in just as much confusion, grabbing their drinks and making their way to the living room.

Dan comes back ten minutes later with sheets of coloured carboard paper, markers and blue tack. She hangs the sheets on the wall side by side and pulls out different coloured markers, throwing them each one in turn.

"Okay." She says as she stands back and picks up Allison's drink. "What are our main questions?"

"When did they meet?" Allison suggests and Dan writes it up on one of the sheets.

"Did he really kill some-one?" Matt asks.

"Which one?" Seth laughs. "Because I believe it of the monster."

"Either." Dan states as she writes. "What do we know so far?"

"Andrew told Aaron that he met Neil when he was 14." Allison states. "Maybe they were in foster care together?"

Dan adds the information to the board and writes the question up with the others to the side. Andrew meets Neil at 14. That starts the time-line.

"Andrew said that Neil gave him his first blade and lockpick set." Matt offers, peeling the label off the beer bottle. "Neil is a year younger than him. How did he know how to pick locks at 13?"

Dan nods along and adds the information to their makeshift board.

"Come on Renee." Seth calls. "You have to have something to add here."

"Neil fights like he's been training his whole life, but he refuses to spar with Andrew." Renee says, reluctantly. "He is better than any-one I've ever seen, and Andrew trusts him with his life, where he doesn't even trust me that much."

"Aaron and Nicky don't know any-more about him than we do." Matt pitches in.

"Some-thing must have happened." Allison agrees. "Either Neil helped Andrew, or he saved Neil from some-thing. Whatever it was, happened before Aaron met Andrew. What were they? 16?"

"So, Andrew met Neil at 14, and Neil was gone before he turned 16." Dan searches the group for any arguments and doesn't find any. She adds it to the board. "What do you think happened?"

No-one adds anything to that question.

A knock at the door draws their attention minutes later. Dan opens it.

Nicky stands in the doorway wringing his hands together. "Hey. Did you guys have any vodka? Kevin is freaking out and Andrew left an hour ago."

Dan grabs his arm and draws him into the room. Nicky catches sight of their project and steps in to take a closer look.

"Oh, shit!" He says, going grey. "Do you lot have a death wish?"

"We're just trying to figure them out." Dan defends.

"You don't fucking get it!" Nicky stresses in a rare show of anger. "I met Andrew only after Aunt Tilda's death. Andrew was bashed up from the crash, and the first thing he had to say to me after I gained custody was that Tilda was hitting Aaron. Had been for years and she had gotten him hooked on drugs. The first thing he ever asked from me was to help him get Aaron clean so that he could go to College and have a shot at Med school."

Nicky stops and stares at them all in turn. "He didn't give a fuck about himself, or me and we only spoke about Aaron for the first year that I knew him. I've known him for over three years now. He has not and will not speak about Neil. Whatever their deal is, is a seriously fucking personal thing."

"He never said any-thing about him?" Dan asks dropping a new bottle of vodka in front of him.

"Let me put it this way." Nicky took a breath, and a large swig of vodka. "The very first day that Neil arrived, Aaron pissed Neil off, which pissed Andrew off. Andrew was supposed to drive him to Wymacks apartment and come back to Abby's. Yeah?

Coach and I get a text after they've left saying, 'You're in charge, babysit Kevin and Aaron, we'll be back in a few days. Do not call unless some-one is dying.' We didn't see them for three days."

"Did they say anything at all?" Allison asks.

Nicky glared at her for a moment, before scratching his head in thought.

"Yeah. At dinner that night, Andrew said that he needed to take Neil shopping because he looked like he was wearing the same oversized clothes he was wearing when they knew each other five years ago. He made a point of saying that he didn't dress like that any-more and Neil shouldn't either."

"Sound like foster brother's" Seth agrees.

"When Aaron met Andrew, he had been in the care of the same family for more than a year. The only other kid in the house was the biological son of the parents who went missing just before Andrew turned 15. No other kids were in the house with him."

"Not foster brother's then." Dan concedes.

"Put another question mark beside that." Allison said, taking a shot of tequila. "It might have been when he just turned 14, before he entered that house?"

Nicky shrugs and shakes his head sadly. "No idea. He won't speak about it at all."

"Hey. Has Neil been staying with you guys?" Matt asks as the others go back to the timeline.

"What do you mean? He lives here."

"He hasn't slept here since Sunday night."

"Matt's being paranoid." Seth interjects.

"Fine!" Matt says loudly, waving his hand in the air to get the rooms attention. "Has anyone seen Neil in the Tower since Monday?"

Nicky watched the room as each person shook their head or answered in the negative, sending each other cautious looks as the reality sunk in.

Nicky takes another large gulp of vodka before speaking. "That, ah... That actually explains a few things."

"What do you mean?" Dan asks perching herself on the couch closest to him. "Has he been staying with you lot?"

"No." Nicky states automatically, taking a breath. "They dropped us at the tower Monday night after practice and well, you saw it, Neil was being weird so Andrew handed him the keys and told me to keep an eye on Kevin. They didn't show up again until Tuesday morning to pick us up for gym."

"Neither of them?" Renee asks quietly, bring her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

Nicky shook his head. "Each night since, Andrew's told Kevin that he won't be having his nightly practice with Neil, tells us to stay put at the dorm and disappears for a few hours. He's usually back by midnight though."

"That doesn't explain where Neil has been going though." Matt argued.

"Nope." Nicky agreed. "But I like the idea of Andrew disappearing to help his friend a lot more than Aarons theory about him becoming a cat-burglar."

"Wasn't he doing that already?" Allison smirked, making the room chuckle.

"Not that he's been charged for anyway!" Nicky grins, picking up the vodka. "I need to get back. Seriously though, don't let them see this. It will end badly for every-one."

Their time-line did not have much more information on it by the end of the night. Just a vague outline of Andrews years until they recruited Neil from Millport. When Matt came out in the morning, the entire board was filled with events and stories and side-line comments in two different handwritings/colours.

Neil smirked at him over his coffee mug from where he was perched on his desk across the room.

"You're back?!" He grinned, making his way to the kitchen. "What's all this?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Neil countered. "Since you lot seen so interested in our past, Drew suggested that we play a little game. Something he called two lies and a truth?"

Matt looked at the time-line again as he stirred the sugar into his coffee. The list of questions they had posted beside it had all been answered in detail. The first one; When did they meet? was answered with a story about a park bench where they ignored each other’s existence. Where they foster brothers was answered with a story about meeting each other again at a cult followers house and making a blood pact with the devil in exchange for daily meals. The one about whether or not they killed people had a single word written next to it, outlined in different colours and underlined. Yes.

"So that means...?" Matt wanted to know.

"For every truth on that board, there are two lies. Have fun trying to figure it out."

The timeline would be amusing if it wasn't also terrifying. There was not a single pleasant note made on it. Dates were marked and from what he could tell, Andrews events were written in black and Neils in red. Things like, was shot in Russia, broke into the police dept. and burned my file, fell out the roof and broke my arm, plotted murder for the first time and buried my mother’s bones on the beach, were labelled. Some were both amusing and depressing. Andrew wrote, danced in the rain - was sick for two weeks, beside it, Neil had added 'I told you not to dance naked in the rain!' Andrew responded, 'I was fully clothed, and it was worth it!'.

Those small sidebars were the only entertaining parts on there. The rest were dedicated to abuse, pain, criminal acts or murder. Truth or lies, these boys did not have a pleasant life.

Neil left the dorm as Matt studied the board and within half an hour all the upperclassmen were back to staring at the timeline with renewed interest.

\- - - - - -

"Kathy Ferdinand?"

"Kathy Ferdinand." Coach repeated, for the third time.

"And when was this going to be shared with the class?" Andrew growled at Kevin, who stared resolutely across the room.

"You're being told now." Coach glared at him. "Now can we get back to the game."

"Hand on, hang on." Allison stepped in. "What time would we have to get up?"

Coach rubbed his temples. "Bus leaves at 2, whether you're on it or not."

Neil nudged Andrews foot with his own. "Have fun with that!"

Andrew flipped him off.

"Not so fast!" Coach called. "You're coming with us. After your debut tonight people are going to scramble to get at you. You can stay with us where we can keep and eye on you until things calm down."

Andrew kicked his foot and shoved his middle finger in his face with that. Neil cursed under his breath.

"That's not fair."

"Suck it up!" Coach commented, turning back to his clip board. "Can we talk about the game now? You know the reason you're all wearing those pretty colours?"

The room grumbled its ascent with a few of the angrier member (Andrew, Neil and Seth) sending their individual visual remarks coaches’ way as well. Coach ignored them all and began running through the Brackenridge Jackals line-up for the night. Neil listened carefully. His first game, he needed to prove himself. Coach had him down for a half hour in the game, 15 in each half, but he was playing sub for Kevin and Seth the rest of the time. How much court time he actually saw would be reliant on them.

The stadium packed with screaming fans was an incredible sight. Dan led them on a warm up lap around the outer court and for once Neil failed to outstrip the others with his attention on the crowd. The cheers and jeers were equally exhilarating, the hum of the stadium echoed in his blood.

Drew slapped his shoulder as he came up beside him. "Junkie..."

Neil smiled even brighter.

The foxes were bristling for the chance to get on court and sink their teeth into the opposition and for the first time he saw why Drew had said that they were in it together no matter their differences. Each and every-one had steel in their eyes. Neil made his way to the team bench to watch the start of the game along side Renee, Nicky and Allison.

"10 says that Seth throws the first hit." Nicky calls as the team line's up on court.

"10 says Kevin hits Seth first." Allison counters.

"Come on." Renee calls from her spot on the bench. "We should have more faith in our team than that."

Neil silently agreed with Allison. How Kevin and Seth hadn't killed each other with their frequent and violent confrontations on court, was beyond him. Thirteen minutes in and both Nicky and Allison are cheering as Coach curses relentlessly. No money changes hands. Seth threw the first hit at Kevin who ducked and hit him with an uppercut. Neil didn't know whether to laugh or scream. He settled for silently fuming as he waited for his chance to get in the game.

Breckenridge were infuriating. The longer he watched the clearer it became that they had two targets on the court, and they were not above ganging up to take the Foxes down. With each play, the backliners were slamming into Kevin, going heavy on the stick checks and leaving Kevin to shake out his left hand after each hit, while their strikers went after Andrew, hammering at the goal and running through, getting close enough to hit him as they pushed forward time and again.

When Coach called for him to relieve Seth after a nasty fight, Neil had to stretch out his hands, having clenched them so tight for too long as he watched. He ran out onto the court and took his position along the wall as he waited for play to start.

"Runaway!" Drew called behind him, as the refs took their places. "Get ready. This one’s for you!"

Neil didn't need to look to know that Drew was going to smash it down his end court the moment play started. With the signal, Neil sprinted off the line, whirling past the backliners and straight to goal. The ball whizzed above his head too high to catch as he ducked under the backliners swing. He caught it on the re-bound, six feet from the goalie box, and slammed it towards the goal only to miss by inches. Kevin scooped the ball out of the air and sent it straight back a moment later, lighting the goal up.

The roar of the crowd vibrated through his bones even with the plexiglass separating them. Drew sent him a nod across the court as he took up his position again. Maybe he didn't score right away, but he helped bring about the goal from Kevin and it was all the same in the end.

Play continued at a breakneck pace as they fought to push forward and keep the ball in their half. After feeding the ball to Kevin several times his backliner mark decided that he wasn't worth the effort and went back to ganging up on Kevin over the other side. Dan took the advantage, sending him the ball across the court, he scooped it out of the air and made a play on the goal. The goalie, too caught up in thinking he would pass to Day missed his cues and let the ball sail in uninterrupted. The goal lighting up sent a message to the Jackals that had the team cursing their own stupidity.

Half time with two goals under his belt and the Foxes were behind by three. Kevin flopped onto the bench in the locker room as Drew came up beside him, peeling off the padding and armour to take a look at his left hand. Abby surged forward as the team watched. Kevin was shaking. Attempting to form a fist with his hand and failing. Drew shook his head as Kevin whimpered and Abby took over, wrapping his hand in a brace and packing it with ice.

"Looks like it's Neil and Seth for the second half." Coach said quietly, his voice laced with concern as Seth grinned and smacked his back. "We might be able to sub in one of the Dealers if absolutely necessary, but I'd rather it didn't come to that."

Neil nodded solemnly. Whatever he thought of Kevin personally, he was a hell of a player that the Foxes needed on their court. He and Seth would have a tough time trying to close the gap between them and the Jackals. Drew seemed to sense his thoughts, or maybe seeing Kevin shaking woke up his anger.

"Put me back in at the 20." He said to Coach in a voice that brokered no arguments.

"Are you up for that?" Coach sat up straighter at the command. "We could use a miracle."

"Not a miracle." Drew made clear with a glare at him. "Just put me back in."

Renee watched from across the room, not hiding her smile despite the slight on her own skills at the remark.

Seth walked out with him as the stepped back onto the court.

"You're fast." He started, slinging his arm around Neil's shoulder. "But you're not the best shot. Run them in circles until I can get close to the goal. We can bounce the ball between each other when were both up there until we score, but I can't get through them on my own."

Neil nodded along, it might have been the most humble thing Seth had said to him yet, which spoke of more self-awareness than Neil thought he possessed. "If I have a shot, I'm taking it."

"That's fair." Seth agreed. "Let's try to help each other out before Day manages to turn you into a mini him, yeah?"

Neil laughed as Seth looked down at him. "Does it look like I get along with Day well enough for that?"

Seth slapped him on the back with a wide grin as he took his place on the court. Allison watched them from her spot further down, searching for any signs of animosity between them. Neil shook it off and turned his attention to the refs, waiting for play to resume.

Breckenridge resumed their attack on Drew without hesitation. They sent fresh players on from the start and the new backliners bulldozed through them, hitting out at Seth as furiously as they had Kevin in the first half.

By the halfway mark, with Drew back in goal, they had Seth pinned against the wall, and Neil could see the cheap shots being taken with their backs blocking the refs line of sight. Matt tossed his racket to the side and sprinted towards the conflict, pulling one off with ease and landing a devastating blow to the others solar plexus. Neil watched as he crumpled to the ground as Matt sprinted back down the court, the first guy hot on his heels. The moment he passed the goal Drew stepped between them, holding his racket casually by his side, creating a clear barrier which had the Jackal skidding to a stop.

Six foot eight dwarfed Drew comically, yet Matt grinned like a madman at Drews back and Breckenridge slinked back with his tail between his legs as the refs rushed forward to usher Matt off the court.

"Holy shit." Neil grinned as he reached Seth's side. "I didn't know Matt could hit!"

Seth pulled himself up from the wall, rolling his shoulder and stretching his neck. "Yeah, his Mom is a boxer. Travels the Pro circuit most of the year, she taught him."

"He looks like a kitten." Neil laughed.

"So do you." Seth countered. "But he's good to have at your back."

The refs signalled for them to resume, and Neil sent Seth a grin before returning to his place. The foxes were impressing him now. He hadn't thought they could pull it together long enough to play a decent game, and with Seth and Kevin on court, they couldn't. Split those two up however and things started to fall into place.

With Drew back in goal, Neil and Seth managed to close the point gap. When the buzzer rang out to signal end of play, they were one point behind.

Seth clapped him on the back as they stared at the score. "Not bad for your first game, rookie."

"We lost." Neil blinked back.

"Yeah, but truth is, we were always going to. We've never won the first game against Breckenridge. We'll get them next time."

"So what, this is a good loss?" He stared at him, frustration bubbling in his gut.

"One point, on a team ranked so much higher than us? Hell yeah!" Seth grinned nudging him to the line-up to shake the Jackals hands. "You did good kid, and we can only get better. We might actually have a shot this year."

They worked their way down the line, shaking hands and offering the usual 'Good game'. The Jackals were bristling despite their win and Seth was taunting them with a wide grin that set them on edge. Neil was starting to believe what he had said about this being a good loss.

The rest of the team in the locker room were in similar moods to Seth. Quietly radiating self-satisfaction as Coach sat them down to give them a sad but encouraging speech about how well they did out there, pointing out Drew's performance in goal, Matt's defence of his team, Neil and Seth's teamwork. The only one not in a decent mood was Kevin, who jumped in quickly after coach was done to start berating them for everything that went wrong.

One by one, each fox sent Kevin a dirty signal or remarks before disappearing into the change rooms. He thought he heard Matt begging Drew to let him hit Kevin again.

The upperclassmen migrated to their dorm room once they were back at the Tower. Neil was getting the impression that this was going to be a normal thing throughout the year and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He couldn't hide from them in Drews room with Kevin being there and he didn't really have anywhere else to go unless he wanted to sleep on the couches of the Foxhole like he had for the past week, but Drew was right, that was impractical and doing no favours to his back when he had a mattress waiting for him in the dorm.

He claimed a spot on one of the desks and watched as they drunk themselves into half-cocked celebrations, laughing and joking, and eventual sleep. Allison crashed first, curled up against Seth's chest, Seth looking more peaceful than Neil had ever seen him, with a hand tangled in her hair. When Dan and Matt started drifting off on the floor, Renee bid him goodnight and went back to her own room. Neil did a quick clean of the room, putting the drinks away and dumping the cups into the sink, and went to bed cursing at having to be up in an hour for the drive to Raleigh.

Not a single fox stayed awake for the drive. Each one that crawled out of the dorms and onto the bus curled up instantly, dropping into sleep as Abby got them on the road with a large and likely strong coffee by her side.

Neil was up and stretching out in his seat the moment the sun came up. It didn't matter how much sleep he didn't get, it was hard to ignore that internal alarm that told him to be up and ready. Coach made his way hallway down the bus as they approached the city, nudging his sleeping team awake until he hit Nicky. He chuckled as Coach delegated the responsibility of waking Kevin and Drew up to Nicky, who promptly buried his head in his hands.

Ten minutes later, Coach promised to stop at a coffee house not far away, grinning at the half-assed cheers Matt and Dan sent up, before glaring down the back off the bus.

"I told you to wake them up 10 miles back!" He glared at Nicky.

Neil looked back to see Nicky popping up over the seats and hissing. "I don't want to die!"

"Fuck! Just throw something at him." Coach pulled his wallet out of his pocket and made his way down the aisle.

Neil shot his leg out, blocking his path and earning himself a glare.

"Throw anything at Drew while he is sleeping, and you will not live to regret it."

Coach sent him a quizzical look as Aaron behind him popped up.

"I think Neil should wake him Coach." He grinned wickedly.

Coach made a sweeping gesture with his arm, signalling for Neil to give it a go. Aaron stared at him gleefully as he made his way to the back of the bus where Drew had claimed the last seat. Kevin was passed out in the seat in front and Neil had no desire to help the other out with him. But he braced himself on the seat to look over the back of it to where Drew was sleeping peacefully.

"Drew..." He called softly. "We're almost there... I need you to wake up."

Andrew shifted in his seat, his eyes twitching behind his lids. Neil tried again.

"Come on Drew, you need to open your eyes."

"A..'bram." He muttered softly.

"I'm right here, Drew." Drew started to open his eye's slowly, taking in the seats of the bus and the image out of the window before finding his face. "Hey. Sorry to wake you but we're almost there."

Andrew scrubbed the sleep from his eyes and checked the window again. "How far?"

"We'll be stopping for coffee soon. I think we're about 20minutes out."

Andrew pulled himself up to glance down at Kevin’s sleeping form on the bench beside Neil. “You’re gonna want to move for this one.”

Neil smirked and made his way back up to his seat, ignoring Nicky’s shock and flipping Aaron off along the way. Aarons curses were drowned out by the crash of Kevin’s body hitting the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

Kathy Ferdinand's smile was bright and entirely insincere. Her teeth were too white, too pointed and Kevin's condescending tone pushed him over the edge.

**_"You have no right."_** He swore in vicious French. " ** _To force me into this position."_**

Kevin's fake smile faltered as his attention was turned to Neil. **_"If you're going to make it on court, you need to play the public game. It is for your own good."_**

****

**_"You have no idea what this could do to me."_** Neil growled, ignoring the teams shocked stares. **_"I cannot be on TV."_**

****

**_"You already were."_** Kevin hissed between his teeth. " ** _Every game is broadcasted. Your profile is on the team site. There is no way around it so, deal with your issues and stop wasting my time!"_**

To Kathy, Kevin switched back to English and said. "He's a little shy, but he will do it."

"Wonderful!" She beamed, waving the assistants over to usher them into the studio.

Neil cursed under his breath and shot a look at Andrew. Drews returning gaze held a mix of 'What the fuck are you doing?' and 'No, you are not allowed to kill him', and Neil cursed himself even more.

He was supposed to be staying off the grid, not appearing on nation wide morning TV. This was not part of the plan. Especially not with Kevin Day by his side. All it would take was Tetsuji watching the interview and remembering the small child that played along side Kevin years before and he was screwed.

He could run?

He wasn't going to run. He had come here for Drew and his desire to stay still outweighed his need to run from any hint of danger. This realisation may have cemented his acceptance of the situation but it did nothing to dampen his anger over being played and he silently vowed never to step onto the bus heading for an interview of any of the foxes again.

A young woman with thick black glasses and a headset ushered Kevin and him away from the team and into a small dressing room where there was a man waiting to take their measurements. He explained quickly that they would be given a selection of approved clothing in their sizes to choose from for the appearance and once they were dressed their make-up artist would be in to get them camera ready.

Kevin nodded along with the information, already used to the spiel after a lifetime of being in the spotlight. Smiling at all the right place and making idle chat with the man as he worked. Neil watched the show in disgusted annoyance.

"You had better have a smile on your face when you step in front of those cameras." Kevin said when the tailor left to find the clothes.

"Perhaps you should have thought about that before you agreed to pull me on stage."

Kevin shot him a withering glare that he returned icily. "This is a part of playing Exy. If you want to see Court one day, you need to get used to this."

"Who the fu-" Neil was cut off by the tailor wheeling a rack of clothes into the room.

The guy stares at him with barely masked disapproval. Obviously his behaviour is not considered appropriate here. Neil bites his tongue and takes a hard step back from Kevin, giving the guy a clear signal that he wouldn't be an issue, at least not while he was in the room.

The tailor nods in appreciation and gestures to the rack of clothes. "On the left is a selection for Mr. Josten and on the right, for Mr. Day. Pick what you like best and Sam, our make-up artist will be by in 10."

Kevin thanks him quickly as he leaves the room and get up to examine the clothes. Neil glances around the room. He hadn't paid much attention on their way in, too angry with Kevin to think about it, now he searches for the changing room. He realises with a sickening twist of his gut, that there is no place to get changed, this is a single long rectangular room without so much as a privacy screen in it. What's worse, one wall is has a mirror that runs the full length of the room.

He can not get changed in front of Kevin Day. It would be worse than Kevin seeing him without his contacts, any one could have icy blue eyes, but only Nathaniel Wesninski could bare the iron burn displayed on his shoulder. Kevin had seen that one on too many occasions for it to be explained away, Evermore didn't have stalls in their showers, and Riko had made a point of asking about it once. Pushing for Nathaniel to give him details about how much it had hurt, how long had it been held against his skin and how long it had taken to heal. For the young kid who puked his guts up at the sight of Nathan chopping a man to pieces, Riko really loved the idea of pain. A budding psychopath if he ever saw one.

Kevin tossed a pair of clean black suit pants at him along with a crisp white shirt that was far too thin to hide his marks.

"Get dressed." He ordered pulling out clothes for himself as well.

"I'm not fucking wearing white." Neil spat, tossing the shirt haphazardly over the rack and looking through the shirts himself.

"Does everything have to be a fight with you?"

"I'd love for it not to be..." Neil glares as he pull a soft dark blue shirt from the rack. "But you keep being a dick!"

Kevin sighs and pulls off his shirt. "Just get changed."

Neil wheels the rack of clothes down to the back corner of the room, using it to create a barricade between them and arranges the hanger across so that the clothes create a screen he can change behind.

"You're going to have to get over whatever scars you're hiding." Kevin calls as he changes, carefully making sure his torso isn't exposed above the shield. "Our next game is an away, and no other stadiums have shower stalls. At some point we're going to see you shirtless."

"How about, go fuck yourself!" Neil calls back.

"It's a fact, not a threat."

No shower stalls at away games. None. Shit. It's not the end of the world, Millport hadn't had shower stalls either, he simply waited until the rest of them team had left. He could do the same thing here, right? Surely no-one would try to walk in on him. Maybe he could ask Drew to mind the door.

Neil stepped out, pushing the rack to the side, and looking himself over in the mirror. Straightening the shirt and looking at the dress shoes that had been laid on the counter for him. Kevin looked him over with an approving gaze.

"Not bad." He stated, as Neil did up the cuffs. "Can you try and act like you don't hate me when we're on stage?"

Neil rolled his eyes. "I don't hate you." He bit out, sounding every bit the liar he usually was. "You simply have a direct line to my anger, like, every-time you talk."

Kevin grimaced as someone knocked on their door. Neil took a seat and waited for Kevin to be the polite public figure and answer it.

"Hi" A young woman about Neil's height in heels, said as she stepped through the door. "I'm Sam. I'm here to help you get camera ready."

"It's lovely to meet you, Sam." Kevin responded in a sickeningly sweet tone, that brightened her smile.

"Don't worry," she spoke to Neil after seeing his discomfort. "It's not painful, and I won't be covering your face in make-up like some guys think. This is just so the cameras pick you without getting the glare from the lighting."

"Sorry." Neil sooths her with practiced ease. "I've just never been on TV before, well not without a racket and helmet." He laughs, pleased with her grin as she opens her bag on the counter. "I'm a bit nervous."

Kevin shoots him a glare behind her back, pissed that he can play nice with the make-up artist but not him.

"That's alright. I much prefer being behind the cameras than in front of them." Sam confides with a wink. "How about I start on Mr Day, that way you can see what I do."

"That would be great, thankyou."

Kevin makes a show of sitting down to let Sam work on him, shooting a glance at him in the mirror as she explains the process. While she is between explanations, applying a layer of powder to his face, he comments.

"Andrew told you I speak French."

Neil shrugs in the mirror. Of course, he did, no-one else knew that Neil spoke it as well.

"Why?"

"I asked why neither of you had informed Nicky or Aaron that I spoke German. And why he used it in front of you in Millport."

Kevin accepts this with a nod and switches to French. **_"You can't hate me this much or Andrew would not let you near me."_**

**_"I don't, but that doesn't mean I like you."_** Neil answered. **_"Plus, he made me agree not to maim those he considered family. You included. I might not be the one to harm you, but I don't have to play nice either."_**

Kevin frowns at him in the mirror. He was clearly hoping for a different answer than that and Neil wasn't willing to offer one. He didn't really have a problem with Kevin, but when he roped him into situations like this he wasn't about to pander to his ego.

****

**_"Your public face is good. Try and keep it while we're on stage."_** He says at last, dismissing the conversation.

"You two speak French." Sam comments as she moves onto Neil, changing the colours she had been using. "That must help when you play. Being able to call to each other without the other team understanding."

Kevin's face lights up. "I hadn't thought of that!" He grins at Neil. "We could use that in the next game."

"Gee, wouldn't it be great..." Neil counters with false cheer. "If we spoke a language our whole team could understand, like, I don't know... English?"

"No but think about it." Kevin looks at him excitedly, as Sam brushes powder over his face tickling his nose. "We can bounce off each other in French and you can call the plays out to Nicky and the twins in German!"

"There is more than just us on the court. The dealers for instance or Matt, Renee and Seth. None of them speak either language, we would be wasting time translating."

The assistant with the glasses that showed them to the room walks as Kevin glares at him in annoyance. "Two minutes guys! Mr Day, you're up first, if you want to follow me please."

Neil smiles sweetly and waves him out the door as Sam sits back to check her work.

"Your eyelashes are so light; would you mind if I darkened them up a bit?"

Neil stares at her in surprise. "Ah... Sure, you're the expert."

She pulls out a long thin tube and unscrew the cap to pull a brush out. "Look at the ceiling for me and try not to move."

Neil raises his eyes and lets her grab his chin to keep him still.

"It's funny, you don't usually find light eyelashes unless you have blond or red hair and yours are so long when you darken them... Do you have any Celtic blood in you?"

"Ah..." Neil silently curses the observant woman. "I think my grandmother is Irish."

"I love Ireland." Sam says sitting back to check him over. "I plan to live there one day. Okay, you are good to go. Don't be nervous, just remember that you're here because the audience already likes you."

She pats his shoulder and leaves with a cheery 'Good luck!' and Neil is left staring at himself in the mirror. He doesn't know what she did but his skin looks smoother and his eye's look darker. You wouldn't notice he was wearing make-up unless you looked closely.

When the other assistant walked him out to the wings, Kevin was already on stage with Kathy discussing last nights game. Neil had taken four points in total, drawing even with Kevin, as well as his work with the assists for both Kevin and Seth.

"Neil is the striker that the foxes really need right now." Kevin was explaining with his wide fake smile. "He is inexperienced, but his potential is untapped and as you saw last night, he has a drive that brings the team together."

"That is high praise from the son of Exy." Kathy beamed sweetly and turned to the audience. "What do you think? Are we ready to meet Palmetto's newest striker! Let's bring him out!"

The crowd cheered loudly, and Neil could make out Dan's whoops. He took a deep breath and forced his muscles to relax, as he pasted his mother’s fake smile over his face. He stepped out onto the stage every bit the liar he was trained to be and met Kathy at her desk, allowing her to pull him into a chaste hug.

There were two small two-seater couches angled towards the audience. Kevin sat comfortably on the one closest to Kathy's desk, so Neil claimed the other.

"So, Neil.." Kathy smiled when the noise died down. "A first-year rookie plucked from his high school team by the son of Exy. A real Cinderella story, I don't exaggerate when I say that you are the talk of the nation this morning. How does it feel?"

Neil darted his eye's to the floor before looking up at Kathy, in his best show of humbleness. "Surreal." He answered with a shy smile. "I can honestly say that playing with the Foxes was the last thing I expected to be doing this year."

Kevin sent him a brief nod, happy to see him playing the game as Kathy fawned over his shy persona.

"It must be quite the experience. I was impressed by the teamwork between the two of you on court, could this be the beginning of a new partnership?"

"We have been working together for weeks now, getting to know each other on court and I believe we will have stronger teamwork, the longer we play together."

Neil nodded along politely, allowing Kevin to take control of the conversation, saving him the trouble of coming up with new lies.

"And Seth? I noticed that you still have a fair amount of tension between the two of you."

Kevin didn't bother denying it and Neil payed close attention to the response.

"Seth and I have always seen things differently, and with this being his final year, my focus will be on working with Neil rather than fixing our teamwork with Seth."

Hot anger sparked in his chest. He wasn't about to let Kevin get away with putting down the rest of the foxes on national tv.

"Kevin forgets that not all of us were raised with a racket in our hands." Neil interrupts before Kathy can move on. "You'll notice that I had no issue working with Seth last night, and we played the second half together."

"That is true." Kevin sent a sheepish grin to Kathy as his eyes grew colder. "But my history with Seth is longer and more complicated than yours."

"I'm sure." Neil grinned.

"And the Ravens." Kathy detoured to break up the forming tension between them. "Edgar Allen is in your district now. How do you feel about seeing your old partner, the man you were raised with like brothers, on the court as your competition?"

Kevin's smile was tight as he answered. "It was such a surprise to hear that they were moving south. But I have always loved playing with Riko, and anyone familiar with our training knows that teams play against each other to challenge themselves all the time. It will be interesting playing against him in orange, but that's really the only change."

"And how does Riko feel about it? Have you had a chance to speak with him yet?"

"Not yet." Kevin admitted carefully. "As you know we have both been busy with training."

"Well then," Kathy grins wickedly, and Neil's stomach sinks at the tone. "Haven't I got a surprise for you. Let's welcome to the stage, the other half of our famous duo, Riko Moriyama!"

The heavy beat of the Ravens team song poured through the speakers. Neil shot a glance to Andrew in the audience before fixing his attention on Kevin, who was now on stage with the man who ruined his career without a buffer between them. Kevin had paled alarmingly, staring at Riko who stepped up to the couch in front of Kevin, holding his arms up as if waiting for Kevin to embrace him.

Neil watched as Kevin wiped his palms on his pants with shaky hands and got up slowly to embrace his abuser. Neil used the crowds diverted attention to switch seats, claiming the other spot on Kevin's couch and forcing the two to sit apart from each other with Neil now acting as buffer in Andrews place.

Riko shot him a dirty look as Kevin sunk down next to him and he was forced to take up the other couch.

"The famous duo, reunited." Kathy cooed over her guests. "How long has it been since you two were together?"

"Nine months." Riko morns quietly.

The sound of a fight breaking out in the audience draws his attention, he looks over in time to see Coach and Nicky, each holding an arm, wrestle Andrew back into his seat and Renee dropping herself unceremoniously onto his lap to stop him from rising again, with her hands clamping down over his mouth. The anger in the Foxes faces registers briefly but he's too focused on Andrews clenched fists and the murder in his eyes. All Neil wants to do is fling himself into the crowds to pull the off him. But Andrew gave his word to Kevin to keep him safe and starting a fight would give Riko an opening that Drew would not be able to forgive.

The interview moved on as if nothing happened, but he now had a 6 foot international Exy star pressing his hand between their thighs to hide the trembling.

"Has it really been so long." Kathy pressed a hand to her chest, the picture of heartbreak. "It is so hard to see you two apart, you were always joined at the hip and now... well."

She gestured to the space between the two that Neil had stolen and currently occupied.

"Yes." Riko sneered. "I do not think we have been introduced."

"Of course, how rude of me. Riko please meet Neil Josten, the new striker for the Palmetto Foxes. Perhaps you saw the game last night."

Riko offered his hand politely with a hard glint in his eye. Neil knew it was a bad idea, but he wasn't going to back down here. He shook his hand as the picture of serenity as Riko steadily tried to break his fingers.

"It was an awful debut wasn't it." Riko looked down on him and increased the pressure.

"We didn't win. But it was a great game that showed off the potential of the Foxes." Neil's grin got wider with each second. "I'm sure that with time the Foxes will be at their best and showing the world what we can do, all the way to finals."

Riko hissed a laugh and dropped his hand, the audience was already on edge with how long he had held on, and Neil didn't give him the satisfaction of stretching it out. Instead, he pulled it back to tap Kevin's knee in a show of unity, reminding Riko that Kevin was no longer his.

"You can't honestly think that you will make finals after that display."

"I may be a first-year rookie." He started, surprised that Kathy was sitting back and letting them talk instead of interrupting to get back on topic. "But I am already the fastest striker in collegiate Exy. Beside me, is a man who has fought to bring his career back from the dead by doing the impossible and every single member of the Foxes knows what it is to fight their way up from the gutter. Yes, I think we have an excellent chance at making finals."

"How does it feel, Neil." Kathy asked sweetly. "To be sitting between number 1 and 2, the two best players in the league."

Neil huffed a laugh. "The only number I am interested in is number three." He grins with a quick look over to the Foxes, before he settled his gaze on Riko. "Didn't happen to invite him along did you? I'd love to have a chat with Jean, I think we could get along well."

Riko turns his nose up at the snub and Kathy steps in before anything more can be said. "Unfortunately, Jean Moreau is not with us today, but you are quite right, it would have been wonderful to have all the perfect court members on stage.

And Kevin?" Kathy draws the attention back after that failed attempt at flattery, only for Neil to realise that Kevin's fingers are digging into his thigh. "Neil makes a brilliant point. You have succeeded in bringing your career back, the question has to be asked, will you stay with the Foxes and work your way up or will you go home and play with the Ravens again?"

"You can't possibly expect him to go back?" Neil asked boldly, trying to shield Kevin from as much of the conversation as he could. "Those people abandoned him."

"Do not speak of what you do not know!" Riko hissed.

"You don't honestly think Riko abandoned him do you." Kathy asked in mock concern.

"Evermore has the finest facilities, trainers and no-doubt doctors in the world with the professional athletes that go through there." He stated as the audience held its breath. "If they did not abandon him, then why was it necessary for Kevin to travel to Palmetto and recover under the watchful eye of his mother's acquaintance? Nothing against our Coach, but Palmetto cannot supply the same level of care and attention Kevin could have received at Evermore."

Riko clears his throat, with murder in his eyes. "It was a difficult time; you could not begin to understand-"

"Oh, I think I understand." Neil cut in unapologetically. "And I think every-one else here does too."

The Foxes stood and cheered, being joined by a few other vocal members of the audience.

"Well Kevin, Foxes or Ravens. Black or orange?" Kathy asked again.

"I signed with the Foxes to help raise them up to their potential," Kevin said slowly, avoiding Riko's gaze. "And I stand by that decision."

The crowd cheered and booed in equal measure as Kathy called and end to the segment. Neil didn't listen to her announce the next part, he stared blankly into the crowd with Kevin’s fingers digging into his flesh and waited for the cameras to cut.

When they did, he had to pry Kevin off him as Kathy gushed about the ratings.

"There are refreshments backstage and seats in the front row for you to watch the rest of the show. Feel free to keep the clothes, it's the least we could do for such a great segment!"

Neil nodded along politely and pulled Kevin to his feet, keeping his body firmly between him and Riko as he pushed Kevin backstage. His only thoughts were to find his clothes and get the hell out of there. On second thoughts, the clothes were replaceable.

Hands grabbed him from behind and threw him against the wall. A quick turn of the head saved him from a broken nose, and he pushed back just as quickly, snapping his elbow back and aiming high. It broke his attackers grip long enough for him to twirl around and see Riko standing there with blood dripping out of his split lip.

"You need to control your pets Kevin." Riko spat, sizing Neil up.

Neil focusses quickly moved to keeping himself between Riko and Kevin. "You remember the way-out Kevin." He called behind him. "Go meet the others."

"You think you can keep him." Riko hissed, shoving him backwards a step. "He will always come back to where he belongs."

Neil planted his feet firmly, staring down the younger Moriyama and recalling his ashen face as he emptied his stomach onto the blood covered sheeting while his father worked. Nathaniel had watched similar shows his whole life and walked straight back out to have dinner with his parents. Riko was a sadist, but he was nothing like Neil.

"Maybe he will. I don't honestly care, but not today." He smiled displaying his pointy white teeth. "Run along now, I'm sure you have small animals to torment somewhere."

Riko cocked his arm back and Neil danced out of the way just in time. Movement from the wings of the stage caught his attention before he could move in for the next shot. He stepped back as Riko straightened at the footsteps.

"Riko!" Andrew smiled manically, stepping around the Moriyama to stand in front of Neil. "It's been so long. You must have forgotten some of my rules."

Neil grinned at the menace laced in Andrews voice. If any-one needed a good dose of fear it was this wannabe King. Andrew shot him a quick look, jerking his head to the exit. Neil got the picture and turned to haul the frozen Kevin down the hall.

"Quit getting in my way mutt!" Riko snarled viciously.

"What did I say about touching my things?" Andrew asked sweetly. "I don't share, Riko. You would do well to remember that."

Neil didn't hear anything else as he pushed Kevin out into the parking lot and began the search for the bus. He didn't need to search for long. The Foxes seemed to get the memo, and were bringing the bus to them, Neil didn't stop until they met in the middle.

Coach and Abby spilled off the bus to envelope the shaking Kevin, Abby pulling out a bottle of vodka from the medical kit slung over her shoulders and handing it over.

"What the hell was that?!" Coach demanded as Neil searched the lot for signs of Andrew.

Neil shot him a cold glare. "I could ask you the same thing." He said running the back of his hand over his jaw, the same spot Coach was forming a bruise on his. "I'm not the only stupid one here."

"I was trying to prevent bloodshed you little shit! Not pick a fight with the mafia!"

"Yakuza." Neil corrected absently. "And I thought you liked the way Kevin's face was arranged."

"Where's Andrew?" Kevin surfaced from the vodka long enough to ask.

"Right here." Andrew called out as he jogged over, the look in his eyes was enough to freeze hell at a glance.

Andrew shoved a pile of clothes into his arms as he passed and pulled Kevin's face down searching for any signs of damage and Neil's eyes found the split knuckles on his right hand, that had no doubt come from Coaches hard jaw.

"He didn't touch me." Kevin mumbled.

Neil wasn't sure if it was from the vodka or the experience, but Kevin stumbled up the stairs of the bus when Andrew demanded he get on. Coach tried to pull Andrew aside and ask what had happened with Riko, only to be met with stony silence and a tension that rolled off Andrews frame promising murder to any who dared cross him. Neil could see it from a mile away and he at least knew better than to approach him like this.

He followed Andrew onto the bus with every intention off maintaining a human barrier between his family and the rest of the team. The others clearly hadn't gotten the memo, however. Kevin sat in the first seat beside Abby, who was trying to talk him into putting the bottle down. Andrew had already claimed the backseat, leaning over the seat in front of him and taking in the seating arrangement for the others.

Neil didn't have any patience left for those who didn't understand, he snatched the vodka from Kevin's hands and level him with a glare as Abby protested.

"Get up." He growled, hating the pathetic display Kevin was putting on. "I did not step in for you, so that you could fall apart now. Get up!"

Kevin stammered and stuttered, failing to follow the instruction. Neil caught his hand and roughly prized the lid for the vodka from his fingers, screwing it back onto the bottle and wrapping it in his bundle of clothes.

"I need that!" Kevin complained weakly.

"You've had enough, if you behave you might get it back later." Neil grabbed his arm and hauled him bodily to his feet and shoving him down the aisle.

"Neil," Abby started in a rush. "You can't. He needs help, he's been through something very stressful for him."

"And it going to continue as long as the Ravens are in our district." He bit back sharply. "Babying him and letting him drown himself in vodka does not help him! It makes it worse, you want to help, teach him how to stand on his own goddamn feet!"

He dropped his things on a seat about halfway to the back of the bus and continued to prod at Kevin until he dropped into the seat in front of Andrew, who glanced at them curiously but remained unmoved. Neil searched the bus for the missing pieces and realised that Nicky and Aaron were seated behind Renee in the front half of the bus. Swallowing his frustration, he went back, stopping beside the pair of them to glare.

"Don't you want to sit down there next?" Aaron spat, all bark and no bite.

He wasn't in the mood for Aaron issues today. If he couldn't see how important he was to Andrew that was his own problem. He wasn't here to fix that; he was here for Drew.

"You're next." He stated clearly. "Then Nicky, now move."

Nicky slid out of the seat with a sigh but moved to take up his position on the bus as Aaron continued to stare him down. Neil leant on the back of Renee's seat and returned the stare evenly.

"I don't give a shit about you or your imagined slights." He stated, ignoring Aarons scoff. "Your family needs you. Either be there for them, or be a little bitch, stay here and understand that you are the one that puts yourself on the outskirts with them. It's your choice."

He didn't wait for a response, instead he claimed his own seat leaving a space between himself and Nicky to discourage conversation. Drew blinked at him from the back as he dropped into his seat, laying over the cushions and propping his feet against the wall on the other side of the aisle.

"Everyone good now?" Coach called from the driver’s seat, the answer came back in a series of mumbled remarks and Neil venturing to flip of the front of the bus over the seats. It must have been an acceptable answer because the engine roared to life and the bus began swaying underneath him as they entered the traffic.

A few minutes into the drive and Neil closed his eyes hoping to crash for the drive but not liking his chances. Matt and Dan were arguing over the best playlist to energise a crowd, trying desperately to break through the tension on the bus, while Abby and Renee picked up a quiet conversation. A tap against his leg had his eyes snapping open. Aaron stood in the aisle, stopped by his legs and staring out the opposite window like Neil wasn't there at all. He dropped his feet one at a time, pulling them back slowly and letting him pass. Aaron didn't acknowledge him, but he moved past without hesitation and Neil put his feet back.

The trip after that was uneventful. They stopped once for coffee, toilets and to switch drivers. The upperclassmen had gotten the clear picture not to approach the others, which Neil was pleased about, but Andrews mood hadn't improved, it may have gotten worse. He spent their brief break watching his family like a hawk in complete silence. At some point the other shoe would drop, He almost felt sorry for whatever poor soul that would incur Andrews wrath.

Coach let them off at the Tower with a clear warning to keep their heads down for the rest of the weekend while he did damage control. All this was explained with a particular glare at himself, that he felt was entirely undeserved, he hadn't even wanted to be there.

Andrew and his family claimed the elevator the moment they stepped through the doors leaving Neil to drag his feet up the stairs behind the upperclassmen. He didn't waste any time claiming the bedroom to change out of Kathy's clothes and throw on some sweatpants and one of his old baggy shirts that Andrew wanted to throw in the bin. The other clothes he shoved into his bottom draw, where he kept his laundry, and stashed the half empty bottle of vodka in the cupboard next to his safe. Only then did he leave the room to check what the others were doing.

In the living room Dan was excitedly playing with the remote, as she rambled about what had happened on the show that morning to a very bored Seth and Allison, who were curled up on the couch in little more than their underwear. Neil ignored them, living through it once was enough, and went to the kitchen where Matt was brewing coffee and Renee sat on the counter examining their collection of take-out menus.

"We're going to order in." She spoke calmly, as he moved to his pod machine. "Did you want to join us?"

Neil glared at her, wanting nothing more than to put her on her ass for pining Andrew down, he settled for slamming his mug on the counter.

"You... need to stay away from me for a while." He said quietly, watching the colour drain from her face as she nodded.

"I understand," She swallowed thickly. "But I can't leave them alone while you're angry."

"Not asking you to. And if you understood, you would not have crossed that line."

Renee fell silent and dropped her gaze to the floor, but she didn't leave. He supposed that was the best he could ask for while her charges were in the room.

"Hey Matt," he asked turning his attention back to his coffee, slipping the mug under the machine and setting it up. "Would you consider teaching me to box?"

Matt glanced at him in surprise. "I thought you knew how to fight?"

"I do." He admitted. "My biggest weakness is that my hits lack power, my speed makes up for that most of the time but learning to box might help me out."

"And you want me to teach you?" Matt grinned. "Yeah, man. I can help you out with that. The gym has a boxing ring up the back we can use, when did you want to start?"

Neil smiled at his excitement. "I dunno, next week? We'd have to work it around classes and practice."

Nicky barrelled through the door, swinging it on its hinges so hard it cracked against the wall causing the whole room to jump, panting and wide eyed as he searched around him.

"Neil." He gasped, locking eyes with him. "It's Andrew, he won't let us in."

His body was moving before he made the conscious decision. Dropping his coffee into the sink and pushing past Nicky and out the door in seconds, racing down the hall and throwing himself through the open door to Andrews dorm and skidding to a stop.

Kevin and Aaron were hammering on the bedroom door, calling for Andrew to stop and open the door while loud crashes echoed through the wall. It sounded like Andrew was tearing the room apart. The shattering of glass brought him back to his senses as Nicky stepped into the room behind him.

"Out!" He yelled. "All of you, go back to my dorm with the others."

Aaron stared at him incredulously. "What can you do that we can't?"

"This isn't about you." He spat as Kevin slinked past him and out the door. "I can talk to him, but he won't talk back with you hammering on the fucking door!"

Aaron glared at him in defiance, still not willing to give ground when it came to Andrew.

"Come on Aaron." Nicky whimpered as another crash sounded through the wall. "This isn't the time."

Aaron rocked back on his heels, refusing to give up quietly before stomping off, shouldering past him on his way. Neil didn't care as long as they were gone. Andrew would never step out to face more violence when he was busy tearing himself apart. Neil counted to ten under his breath and made his way to the door. Knocking softly in the now quiet dorm.

"Drew." He called through the door. "It's just me now. Will you speak to me?" He didn't receive an answer, but the crashes stopped, and he could hear Andrew panting on the other side, so he knew he had his attention. "You don't have to say anything. I can sit here with you if you would like."

He slid down the wall next to the door so Andrew would know that he wasn't going anywhere and waited. Listening to Andrew ragged breathing in the room. A small click and the door opened a few inches. He waited for a moment to see if Andrew would step through before he realised it was an invitation to come in.

He stepped through the door carefully, examining the destruction littering the room before he caught sight of Andrew who had stepped back behind the door. Blood was smeared over his face and through his blue hair from panicked hands. His right hand and arm were shredded with lacerations, cutting through his armband that was held together through thin stretches of fabric, and were bleeding steadily. That arm looked like it lost the battle with the shattered window across the room. His left fared better, bruised and bleeding across the knuckles, his armband flecked with white powder from the holes in the drywall. Neil closed the door behind him, locking it again.

"What do you need?" He asked carefully.

Andrews eyes were wide and haunted, darting around the room and settling on him after a few tries.

"Abram."

"I'm right here." He assured, taking a step closer.

"I couldn't get to you." His voice broke as he reached out to pull Neil in by the shirt. "They held me down, I couldn't... I couldn't move."

He froze as Andrew collapsed against him trembling, burying his face in his shoulder. He choked back a sob as he remembered Andrew limping across the park, carefully masked pain shining in his eyes and haunted look when it was time to go back to his foster home. They held him down and brought back all the memories that he couldn't wash away.

"Can I hug you?" He asked blinking back tears, terrified that he might do the wrong thing and make it worse for him.

Andrew nodded into his shoulder and Neil placed his arms carefully around his shoulders. Andrew responded by wrapping his arms around his back and fisting his shirt in his hands before sinking to the floor, dragging Neil down with him. Neil held him there, on his knees surrounded by the broken glass, shattered draws and scattered belongings all covered with a fine layer of drywall as silent sobs wracked Andrews body. He felt helpless. Wishing for some stroke of genius to help him fix things, but none came

He lost track of time as he stroked his fingers through his hair, listening closely as Andrews breathing began to ease. He didn't let go until Andrew was pulling away, untangling his hands and looking down at the cuts still seeping down his arm.

"Can I check them?"

Andrew nodded slowly, ripping the shred of fabric that was holding his armband together and letting it drop heavily to the floor between them, and holding out his arm. Neil examined the wounds closely, some still had glass in them, and made a mental checklist of what he would need to clean them up.

"You're going to need stitches." He commented quietly. "Did you want me to do it or would you like to go to Abby?"

Andrew shook his head. "I can't deal with Abby right now, you do it."

Neil nodded, he wouldn't trust anyone else after today either. "I need to grab a few things, did you want to stay here or head to the bathroom?"

"Here."

"Drew." He said quietly, waiting for him to meet his gaze. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay."

Neil got up slowly, slipping out of the room and closing the door again. He hated it. Hated everything about Andrew sitting on the floor surrounded by broken belongings. He deserved better. He deserved to have people there to hold him up not drag him down. Instead he had Aaron who bit back every-time he tried to help and a team full of people quick to condemn him and write him off. Neil wanted to burn the lot of them, but right now, Andrew needed him attention more.

The rest of the Foxes were lounging around his dorm drinking while some day time soap played in the background. They all looked up as he entered, faces ranging from concern to fear, with Nicky wringing his hands in the corner.

"Is he alright?" Nicky asked.

Matt and Aaron straightened up as they waited for him to speak. "I need a first aid kit. Who's got one, preferably well stocked."

"Dude, you know you're covered in blood right?" Seth calls from the couch.

"Well spotted."

Matt points to the bathroom. "There should be one under the sink. Red bag."

Neil gives him the thumbs up and searches the bathroom. The kit is nothing special but it's stocked with bandages, antiseptic cream and a range of tools that will come in handy. What it's missing are needles, threads and a decent amount of disinfectant. He searches through the draws and comes up with dental floss, but not much else. He grabs a fresh towel on the way out so Andrew can clean the blood off himself.

"Alright." He calls the attention of the group again, as he grabs a bottle of water from the kitchen. "A need a sewing needle. Any-one got a kit buried somewhere?"

Every male shakes their head and turns their attention to the girls in the group. Neil steps forward and confiscates Kevin's vodka again, this one is a new bottle almost completely full.

"Why do you need a needle? Should we be calling Abby?"

"He won't see Abby."

"I think I have something." Renee offers, getting to her feet. "I'll go get it."

Aaron glares at him as she leaves the room. "If he needs medical attention, I should do it. I am pre-med after all."

"I'm with Aaron on this." Dan pitches in. "If he won't see Abby than Aaron should look at him."

Neil watches as the group nods along slowly. "Cool." He huffs. "And when was the last time Aaron stitched up a person?"

He chuckled drily at the silence that met him.

"I'm still pre-med."

"And your pre-med has nothing on my lifetime of experience. Plus, you said it yourself, he doesn't trust you."

Renee walks back in handing a small plastic box to him on her way back to her seat. He flips the lid open, inside is a selection of different needles and several rolls of brightly coloured thread. He nods in appreciation and gathers the rest of his supplies, leaving the group without another word.

Andrew watches him as he goes over each cut, picking the glass out of the flesh, disinfecting it vodka, and stitching the larger lacerations up. Andrew takes a mouthful from the bottle every now and again as Neil threads the needle or pulls the skin together. When he's done he covers the larger ones with gauze and wraps his arm from elbow to fingers in a clean white bandage. Andrew lets him clean his other hand and wipe the blood away from his face and hair, before claiming the towel and wiping away spots of blood from his own skin in return.

"We should get some food and clean up." Neil offers with no real intention of getting up, but no reason to stay sitting on the floor anymore.

Andrew glances around the room and sighs. "It's only my things, it can wait. Are the others safe?"

"They're at my dorm, drinking with the upperclassmen and watching crappy tv. I think they were planning to order food."

Andrew nods, satisfied that his family are all accounted for and under Renee's watch. "I'm tired." He admits carefully. "Will you lay down with me for a while."

Neil blinks at the question. They haven't shared a bed since Columbia when he first got there, he didn't think it was something that Andrew would find comfort in, especially when the beds here were only singles.

"Sure." He agreed softly, rocking back on his heels and getting up.

Andrew runs a hand through his hair and climbs to the top bunk across from the door. Neil waits until he settles against the wall before climbing up an laying on his back beside him. Andrew studies him there for a few minutes as he relaxes. Neil crosses his ankles and props the up on the edge of the ladder.

"Can I?" Andrew questions, tugging at the edge of his shirt.

"Yes." Neil answers honestly.

Andrew rolls over slightly, grabbing a handful of his shirt over his stomach and resting his head on his shoulder. Neil pulls on his sleeve, encouraging him to come closer and breathes a sigh into his hair.

"I was worried about you." He confides in a whisper.

"Thankyou, for looking after Kevin." Andrew murmurs into his shirt. "And me." 


	10. Chapter 10

Andrew and Neil spent the night cleaning up the mess in the room. Shaking the shards of glass and debris out Andrews clothes and tossing them into the laundry bag. The draws were broken beyond redemption, it took them two trips to the dumpster around the side of the tower to throw the whole cupboard out, deciding that it would be easier to replace it entirely than trying to restore it. They picked through the rest of the mess tossing the larger pieces of glass and broken wood into garbage bags, leaving the rubbish small enough to be sucked up with the vacuum.

Andrew spent a good ten minutes staring at the broken frame that held a picture of Nicky and Erik, unwilling or unable to throw it away, he opened it up carefully taking the picture out and sliding it onto Nicky's beside table.

"I didn't mean to hit that." He says quietly, answering Neil's curious look. "Nicky loves that picture, I need to replace it."

"We need to go shopping tomorrow anyway. We can find something for it, Nicky is more worried about you than what you might damage."

Andrew stares at the broken frame before shoving it into the trash bag. "He was the first one, the first family member that stood up for me and didn't try to change me. Every-one else were trying to force me into this idea of what I should be. Kept saying things like… you'll like this… you just need to relax… Aaron used to do this… maybe you should try..." Neil bit back his anger as Andrew stared at the holes in the walls around them. "He doesn't understand me the way you do, and he is soft hearted to a fault, but he was the first one I could call family. The first one I could count on to stand beside me."

Neil already knew that Nicky was important to him. He trusted a total of two other people when it came to looking after Kevin and Aaron and that was Wymack or Nicky. Aaron was some-one Andrew wanted in his life and would do anything for, but Nicky was the one he needed. The one he could lean on without giving an explanation and he didn't want to hurt or disappoint him. Neil took a risk, stepping in front of Andrew and placing his hand on his shoulder, slowly enough for Andrew to pull away or refuse. Andrew watched his movements and closed his eyes at the contact.

"Nicky is not about to turn away from you over a broken frame, Drew." Neil assured with complete certainty. "He is a lot tougher than that. If it worries you, we'll get something really nice to replace it so he knows you didn't mean to break it. He'll appreciate knowing that even when you couldn't see straight, you wouldn't intentional hurt him. There are four people in this dorm and you only contained the damage to your stuff, that's impressive, I wouldn't have burned the whole place down."

"Is this your version of a pep talk?"

"Yeah, is it working?"

"A little." Andrew admits tying a knot in the bag and scanning the room quickly. "I'll take this down, can you start on this?"

"Sure." Neil agrees as Andrew squeezes his hand and pulls it away from his shoulder. He follows him out of the room and goes in search of the vacuum.

He goes over the carpet three times before he's sure that he's gotten all the glass, using the different attachments to get into the crevices' around the windows and between the remaining furniture. He looks around when he's done. The window needs to be replaced and the walls need to be fixed, but at least it's clean and ready to be fixed tomorrow, well apart from the blood staining the carpet. He is a little sad honestly. The Foxes have this big issue about not being able to see Andrew as human, it's painful to see how quickly they can cover up the proof that Andrew is just as in need of help as they are, if not more. He knows without a doubt that Andrew doesn't want them to see him struggle and his heart sinks further knowing that even with the family he has built here, none of them can see through Andrews anger the way he does. He'd like to shove it in their faces and tear the walls down until they can see what he does, admire Andrew the way he does, but he won't. He'll settle for threatening them into compliance to keep Andrew safe.

The whole family is lounging in the living room when he comes back out. Kevin is a drunken mess, already half asleep on one of the oversized beanbags. Nicky and Aaron are shooting cautious glances at Andrew, more specifically the arm wrapped in white bandages, as they pass a bottle between them.

"What's going on?" He asks softly, grabbing Andrews attention from his spot on the beanbags.

"This lot are ready for bed," he says taking a swig from the vodka bottle again. "And I think Renee is waiting to see if you're going to come back or not. Something about not wanting to leave the boys alone with you."

Neil rolled his eyes. "The only one she needs to worry about is herself."

"Are you plotting?" Andrew asked with a curious look as Nicky started fidgeting, darting his eyes between them.

"No. But if she touches you again, I can't guarantee she won't disappear."

"An interesting choice of words." Aaron comments with a sharp look. "Who else have you made disappear?"

Nicky drops his head into his hands and Neil thinks he might be praying. "Wouldn't you love to know? Too bad I don't do confessions."

"I like her." Andrew says evenly.

"Then ask her out!" Nicky squeaks at the same time Neil says. "I know."

Andrew shoots a glare at Nicky but it doesn't discourage Nicky or Aarons interest in the topic. Aaron gestures to Nicky with a pointed look at Andrew.

"I'm with Nicky. For the love of god, ask her out so I can date Katelyn. Every-one wins!"

Neil has no idea what that comment is about and avoids the conversation completely by ducking back into the bedroom to pickup the first aid and sewing kit they left in there. When he comes back our Aaron and Andrew are glaring at each other with equal measures of annoyance. After a few moments of silence, when Neil is sure that their argument is at a stalemate, he tries again.

"Okay, Renee won't leave my dorm while I'm there and I can't spend the night in the same room as her without losing my temper, so... What do you think of me crashing here for the night?" He glances around the room, glad to see that Andrew and Nicky are considering the idea. Aaron as always is glaring at him. "I stay away from Renee and she stays safe. That's something you all want right?"

"How about we invite Renee over and you disappear to where-ever you were hiding last week?" Aaron counters with a smirk.

It takes all his self-control not to lash out at the thought of her being in the same room as Andrew again. He's sure that they can feel the tension rolling of him in waves as he bites his tongue. Andrew is staring at him waiting to see if he'll take the bait. He slowly unclenches his fists and stretches out his fingers and keeping his eyes on Andrew.

"You can stay here." Andrew decides, ignoring Aarons scoff. "You can claim a beanbag. Did you want me to tell them?"

Neil holds up the first aid kit in his hand. "I'll let tell them, I'll be back in a minute."

The upperclassmen are all still in his dorm when he returns the first aid kit to its place under the bathroom sink. Matt and Dan have claimed the couch, Dan spread between his legs and leaning back on Matts chest, while Allison lays across the floor with her head cradled in Renee's lap and her legs crossed over Seth as he leans on the couch. Renee shoots him a hesitant smile when he drops the sewing kit down beside her.

"How drunk are you?"

The question is for Matt, but Dan responds by scrunching her face up and pinching her fingers together. Allison giggles from her spot on the floor.

"Should I talk to you in the morning?"

"I'm alright, man." Matt says slowly, carefully enunciating his words. "What's up?"

"I was hoping to borrow your truck tomorrow, we need to grab a few things to put the room back together before anyone sees it." He offers with a tight smile.

"Dude," Seth interrupts in a drunken drawl. "You know you're still covered in blood, right?"

Neil looks down at his shirt, examining the bloodstains where Andrew had grabbed at his shirt. Well, it looked like he'd be throwing it out after all.

"That's cool. Hey, if you need help I'm pretty good at fixing shit." Matt grins up at him. "How bad is it?"

Neil shrugged. "Need to replace the window, patch the walls and buy a new set of draws. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse."

"Did you seriously give him stitches with a sewing needle?" Dan wants to know. "His whole arm was bandaged when he came back for the others."

"Yeah well, he needed them." Neil states biting back his anger over it, he needed to get out of there before he lashed out. "And you can go to bed, Renee. I'll sleep in Drews dorm tonight."

The oversized beanbag engulfed his body when he curled up on it. No wonder Kevin had been falling asleep on the other one earlier. It was more comfortable than he had imagined it to be, and paired with the blanket Andrew had tossed him, he felt like he was wrapped in a cocoon. None of this helped him close his eyes. The others had gone to their beds hours ago, leaving Neil in the living room, staring at the obnoxiously loud clock in the dim light spilling through the windows. The real reason he wanted to stay the night and the reason he was wide awake at 2am, was that he couldn't shut off the nagging feeling that if he left Andrew might hurt himself again. His being there wouldn't necessarily stop that, but he felt a little less useless by being close enough to help.

Quiet footsteps padding into the room pulled him from his thoughts. In the dim light, Andrews bandaged arm glowed as he walked around the beanbag to stand in front of him. It was strange to see one arm clad in glowing white where the other was obscured in the darkness, covered by his remaining black arm band.

"Hey." He says looking up at Andrew, trying to read his face in the dark.

"Can't sleep?"

"It would seem not... I thought you would have crashed."

Andrew runs a hand through his hair, causing it to poke up in all directions. "I can't seem to shut off long enough to close my eyes."

Neil considers his words carefully. There was nothing he could do to change the memories of the past. Not anymore. But perhaps he could change the direction of his thoughts. He uncurls himself and stretches out, lifting the blanket in offer.

"Wanna join me?"

Andrew stares at him for a few moments before responding. "Are you asking because you want me to, or you think I want to?"

Neil nods in appreciation for the distinction. "Both. So, are you joining me?"

Andrew shuffles his feet and slides in beside him, shifting the beans and forcing Neil to brace himself before he fell into him. He sticks to the side of the beanbag, keeping a few inches between while he studies him, ignoring the blanket Neil is holding out in offering.

"Can I hug you?"

"Yes, Drew." He smiles back. "You don't need to ask to touch me. I like when you're comfortable enough to touch me."

Andrew tucks himself under his arm, resting his head on his shoulder, and curls his body around him as Neil drapes the blanket over them both. "You can't say that, how will I know if you don't want to be touched?"

Neil wraps his arm around his shoulders and starts systematically fixing working his hair into its usual style before messing it up and beginning the process again. "Your touch is calming to me." He admits. "It's other people I have problems with. Not you."

"If the others come out and see us like this, they're going to assume we're dating."

He wonders how that might change their views around Renee if Andrew was found cuddled up with him. Would they sympathise with her for losing her crush? Would they blame Neil for breaking them apart, it wasn't like he was hiding his anger towards her after the past day, maybe they would assume he turned Andrew away from her because of it.

"I didn't think you cared what others thought of you. Would it be a problem for you?"

"No. I was thinking more that it might be an issue for you. If you thought Nicky was bad when it came to figuring out your sexuality before, finding us like this would have the whole team questioning you."

He was right. Nicky would become unbearable. He wondered if it would be worth it to stop the comments about Andrew and Renee.

"Someone said once, that a knife to the throat tends to discourage talking."

Andrews frame shook with silent laughter, bringing a wide smile to his face. It would definitely be worth it to see Andrew happy. What was even better, he could feel the tension leaving Andrews body as his laughter stopped and he curled in closer, more relaxed than he had been all day. Neil went back to stroking his hands through his hair, unaware of precisely when he had stopped, and listened as Andrews breathing evened out to the steady pace of sleep.

In the quiet, with Andrew curled up on his chest, he thought about how the team would react to finding them together. Nicky might be rooting for Renee now, but he thinks that he would be happy just to see Andrew happy with anyone. Aaron and Seth would be their homophobic selves and need a quiet word and sharp implement to a vital organ, the rest of the team would be in shock. Except Renee. Renee he wasn't sure on. Would she be upset? Angry? The others were sure that there was something between the two of them, but Neil hadn't seen anything to warrant it so far, other than Andrews trust and desire not to see her killed.

He could handle that.

His stomach swooped as he blinked into the dark. Was he really considering how to handle the team seeing them as a couple? He bit his lip as his heart hammered in his chest. Shit. Was he interested in Andrew? He had never truly been interested in anyone before, how was he supposed to tell? He had kissed a few people before. In complete accuracy, two girls and one guy, trying to figure out what all the fuss was about in high school. Each encounter had left him feeling empty and disappointed. They had been experiments, nothing more, he could admit that. None of them had meant anything to him in comparison to Andrew, especially now. He glared up at the ceiling and wondered what it would be like to have Andrews lips pressed to his own. Fuck. He didn't hate the idea, he didn't even mind it, a shiver made its way down his spine as he touched a finger to his lips and imagined it. This couldn't possibly be good.

He looked down at the sleeping form curled against him and his heart began to settle again. He could happily get used to Andrew sleeping on him. This did not need to change anything, he could continue to do the same thing he had been doing since he got here, he could and would be whatever Andrew wanted him to be. The only reason he had come here was for him and he wasn't going to screw that up now. Right?

-

Neil hadn't woken when he got up to make coffee, instead he had rolled over into the space Andrew had occupied moments before and reached out in his sleep. It gave him a lot to think about. Sharing a bed in Columbia had been one thing. They could both stretch out there and still not touch each other, but sleeping through curled up against him was another. He had never done that with anyone, had never thought that he would be able to without lashing out, but there he was, staring down at a man with more bravery than sense who remained unscathed by Andrews instincts.

Aaron wandered in, in search of coffee, as he rummaged through the kitchen for breakfast, settling on fruit loops and coffee with a side of paracetamol. The pain was pulsating down his arm and into his fingers, he carefully clenched and unclenched his hand to see how bad it was, nothing to worry about he decided, just a normal amount of pain from cutting his arm open in multiple places and having fourteen stiches put in with vodka and dental floss. How Neil managed to stich himself up on the run for all those years was beyond him, at least he had some-one else do it. Aaron had stopped to stare at him as he tested his arm.

"Is it alright? Maybe you should have Abby check it."

"It's fine." He answered, more surprised that Aaron had cared enough to ask. "Abby will want to check it anyway, that can wait until tomorrow."

"You really trusted him to put stitches in?" Aaron asks as Nicky stumbles past to pull a mug from the cupboard.

"Yes." He said downing the pills with a mouthful of coffee.

"Why?" Aaron asks his voice heavy with annoyance and Nicky's hand stills halfway through pouring his own mug.

"Because I know him." Andrew pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. Aaron picked a great time to start getting brotherly. "I know that he's treated almost every wound imaginable that didn't require surgery. He knows what he is doing."

Aaron looks severely unconvinced and Nicky finishes making his coffee before saying. "I would feel better if Abby checked it out as well."

"She will. Tomorrow." He states again. "Wymack wouldn't allow me to train without her say so. But today I-"

"Drew!" Neil cries, jumping to his feet and spinning wildly to search the room.

Andrew is around the counter in a second, holding his hands up, unsure if he's showing that he's unarmed or trying to calm a cornered animal. It might be the same with Neil like this and there was only one thing that could make him like this. The only thing he's this afraid off, or rather the only person.

"I'm right here." He says claiming Neil's attention.

The wild eyed, panic-stricken face does not suit him. He is supposed to be unmovable. The smart mouthed little shit that took on a paedophile more than double his size without batting an eye. This was not the Abram he was used to.

"Are you alright? Did he..?" Neil is scanning every inch of him looking for wounds that aren't there.

Andrew reaches out and wraps a hand around the back of his neck to ground him. "I'm fine. You're in the dorms, okay. He isn't here."

Neil blinks back at him, slowly looking around him and seeing the room clearly for the first time. "Oh, fuck."

Neil is on the floor before Andrew can process what happened, cradling his head between his knees and breathing too fast. He is not hyperventilating yet, but Andrew knows just how quickly that can change. He drops down beside him and grabs the back of his neck again, massaging circles with his thumb.

"Stay with me, Abram." He says quietly, hoping Nicky and Aaron will miss the name. Neil picks his head up to meet his eyes and he doesn't like the delicate shade of white he has turned. "Who am I?"

Neil blinks at him. "Drew." He breaths slowly. "Andrew Joseph Doe-... Minyard. Andrew Joseph Minyard."

Andrew nods at the correction. "And where are we?"

"Dorms." Andrew raises his brow and Neil elaborates slowly. "Palmetto... We're in Palmetto."

"And where is he?"

"Maryland." Neil blinks, evening his breathing and pulling at his hair. "Maryland Corrections."

"Are you with me?"

Neil lets out a shaky laugh and nods. "I'm still with you."

Andrew wraps his arm around him and pulls him into his side for a brief hug, it's barely a few seconds of contact but Nicky squeaks, reminding them both of their audience.

Aaron looks at them like he's trying to solve the Times crossword puzzle and Nicky brings two mugs over, handing one to him and offering Neil the other.

"It's black, right? No sugar." Nicky grins uncomfortably. "Andrew complains about how bitter you drink it."

"Yeah, thanks." Neil gives him a small smile as he takes the mug and Nicky lights up.

"Does that happen often?" Aaron asks across the room, studying them over the counter.

"When was the last one?" Andrew asks more gently, sipping his coffee.

"Panic attack?" Neil shakes his head, warming his hands around his mug. "I haven't had one of those since I was on my way to Millport, sitting at some service station in the backroads of nowhere. I guess yesterday took a bigger toll than I realised."

"Too busy looking after me to freak out for yourself?"

"Something like that I guess." Neil smiled sweetly at him, pain echoing in his eyes. "I'd do the same thing all over again."

His stomach did that stupid summersault he remembers it doing when they were kids. "One of these days, I'm going to push you head first into a dumpster." Neil laughed genuinely, sending him a blinding grin as he shakes his head. "Can we get off the floor now. I feel like we've used up the allotted time for meltdowns on the floor in a 24 hour period."

How he ended up standing alone in an aisle with Matt, picking out the closest set of draws to the ones the dorm rooms came with, was a combination of Matts eagerness to make Neil his new best friend, Neil's ability to make people care about him without thinking and his determination to look after Andrew. Matt had jumped at the chance to come with them to help get what they need to fix the room, and Neil had proceeded to walk off the moment the stepped out of Matts truck. Having spotted a CVS across the street he declared that their ability to buy a coffee machine before thinking of getting a decent first aid kit needed to be rectified. Andrew cursed him silently as he entered the hardware centre with Matt.

Matt is all awkward smiles and stuttered commentary as they make their way through the aisles. Just as uncomfortable being left alone with Andrew as he is with him. His encouragement for Neil to make friends with the walking talking giant makes him feel a certain responsibility to put more effort into the interaction than he usually would, so when Matt stumbles through a brief explanation about learning how to reno thanks to a summer spent fixing up a house with his Mom after his parents divorce, Andrew prompts him to elaborate. Matt takes the olive branch with a grin and starts going into detail about the three bed cottage his Mom had bought in the mountains that was so run down that they gutted the entire thing to start from scratch.

"We didn't do anything major to the house in Columbia when we got it." Andrew offers when Matt asks him about his experience. "Mostly cosmetic stuff. Patching a few of the walls and repainting. The biggest thing was fixing up the downstairs bathroom after we got Aaron clean. He tore up everything he could while he went through withdrawals."

"Wait... Aaron was addicted to drugs?" Matt stares like he's seeing him for the first time. "Why would you get me high if Aaron had been addicted?"

"You weren't coping." Andrew levels him with a look that has him hanging his head. "Aaron was getting jittery watching you suffer like that, I did not need you screwing up his recovery. I got you high so you would deal with it one way or another."

"I just thought you were fucking with me. I didn't think you really cared if I got clean or not."

Andrew pulls a tin of primer of the shelf and deposits it in the cart. "Let me be clear about this, I did not care whether you got clean or ended up on the street selling yourself for the next hit. As long as Aaron wasn't around your suffering anymore."

Neil catches up to them as they're searching through window fittings. "This place is huge! I've been looking for you two for the past ten minutes."

Andrew glares at him half-heartedly. "I'm sure there is a device you can use to communicate with people without standing beside them." He says drily. "Small rectangular things, maybe."

Neil pats his pockets down and grins sheepishly. "I may have forgotten to bring it."

Andrew glares at him, leaning heavily on the cart, and plotting his murder. It's a hardware store, plenty of chemicals laying around that could get rid of a body.

"I thought you went to CVS?" Matt asks, staring at his empty hands. "Where's the stuff you bought?"

"Oh," Neil blinks in surprise. "I dropped it in your truck on the way through." Matt pulls the keys out of his pocket and sends him a questioning stare. "I don't need the keys to get into your truck, Matt."

"You two can grab the rest of it." Andrew announces, pushing the cart towards them. "There's something I need to do before we leave. If you need me, I'm sure Matt has his phone on him."

Neil sends him a mocking grin, all teeth and sharp angles, as he walks off.

They spend the rest of the day at the dorm and even Andrew has to agree that having Matt along was a big help. Matt did most of the heavy lifting to save Andrew's arm and happily worked away installing the new window as Andrew put the draws together. It took Neil several attempts to get the hang of patching walls, even after they both explained the process, and ended with him loudly exclaiming that he was more used to 'tearing things down rather than fixing them up!'. Matt took pity on him and went to help, while Andrew fought off a smile.

Neil could fight off zombie invasion and survive the end of the world with nothing but his lockpicks and a stick of gum, but he broke at having to patch a hole in the wall. Maybe there was something to be said about having too many survival instincts and not enough socialisation. Andrew gave him points for trying though. Neil did however, manage to school them both by using hydrogen peroxide to remove the bloodstains from the carpet. Andrew was annoyed that he had never learned that trick before, it would have come in handy for his clothes.

The walls still needed to be sanded and painted, there wasn't much they could do about that until the plaster dried, but the room looked almost back to normal, including the brand new glass frame inlaid with silver and gold filigree he had gotten to replace Nicky's broken one. Seeing it put back together helped him breathe easier. Yesterday had been bad, but as Bee kept reminding him, he can always move forward.

Neil didn't stray far from him for the rest of the day and he wasn't sure if it had more to do with Andrews meltdown or his own, either way he was glad for it even if Aaron had gone back to glaring at him.

"You're done now right?" Aaron comments over pizza. "You can go get checked by Abby."

"She'll be there in the morning."

Neil holds up a finger and swallows a mouth full of his Chicken and aioli. "I do want to check them and change the bandages. You should probably air them out for a while too, did you want to do that here or?" He points a finger at the ceiling. Andrew doesn't need to think before he jabs a finger at the ceiling as well. "I got you a new set of armbands too."

"Good call." He comments picking the onion of his Meat lovers. "I had forgotten about that."

Forgotten being the wrong word. Having his arm wrapped up in a bandage had felt just as comfortable as his normal armbands so he hadn't thought about the need to replace his ruined one yet. Neil was proving yet again, how well he knows him.

"How ah..." Nicky starts with an uncomfortable glance between them. "You said you had a lot of experience with stitching people up, can I ask how that happened?"

Neil stiffens slightly in his seat as all eyes turn to him, Andrew puts his hands up when he looks at him to show that he isn't involved with whatever lie he is about to tell. "I spent a bit of time on the streets..." He says weighing his words carefully, the way he does when he's telling uncomfortable truths. "No one has access to medical care out there, so you get really good at looking after each other."

"Were you homeless in Millport?" Kevin asks tactlessly. Nicky throws a chunk of pineapple at him. "What! He was carrying the same bag that night that he showed up with at the airport!"

"You can tell him to fuck off." He comments calmly as Neil clears his throat.

Neil sends him an amused grin before he turns back to Kevin. "My living situation wasn't exactly legal, no. But you probably already figured that out since Hernandez sent you my file."

Kevin shrugs in response and Andrew knows that he doesn't really care. Kevin has never been as sold on the concept of the foxes as the rest of them were, he was raised as a prodigy with wealthy benefactors, he doesn't understand the idea of providing a safe place for at risk athletes he only understands talent and determination. Both of which have been a point of contention between the two of them since he got there.

"Learning out of necessity doesn't mean that you know the right way to handle wounds." Aaron argued.

"I haven't spent my entire life on the street, look-a-like." Neil bit back. "I've had plenty of reputable teachers over the years."

"Who would be?"

"None of your business." Andrew intervened before the conversation spiralled out of control completely. He gave Neil a gentle shove to break the stare down between the two. "Smoke?"

Neil glances at him and back down to the half eaten piece of pizza in his hand. "Yeah, just let me grab the kit."

Andrew watches as he gets up shoving the pizza in his mouth as he goes to the room to grab the bag he dumped on Andrews bed that morning.

"Abby." Aaron says pointedly as he gets up.

"Tomorrow." Andrew glares back before following Neil out of the dorm.

Neil sits cross legged at the edge of the roof, spreading the stuff he bought out beside him. Andrew sits down in front of him, attempting to mimic his position and failing, he leans back and throws a leg out over Neil's knee to get comfortable. Neil chuckles and send him a smirk as he grabs the hydrogen peroxide again.

"Problem?"

"Nope." Neil smiles, holding his hand out. "Can I check your left hand first?"

Andrew offers it up without argument, pulling a smoke out with his right as Neil runs his finger softly over his hand, head bent in concentration as he examines the cuts over his knuckles. One thing runs through his head on a loop as he watches, how did he get so comfortable with this mouthy little shit. He's been asking himself the same question all day since he woke up in his arms. Neil offered no help at all, surrendering his hand with a satisfied nod and pointing to his right arm. Andrew switches the smoke to his left and holds out his arm. Neil unwraps the bandage slowly, careful not to rip the dried blood from the small cuts, and peels off the gauze from the stitches turning his arm over to look at each deep cut.

"They look good." He mutters as he checks them. "I'm going to clean them all down again, just to be safe, and I bought water proof dressing for the stiches so you can shower without issues."

"Do you think this will get me out of Fridays game?"

Neil laughs as he dampens a cotton ball with peroxide. "I don't know. I never been good at staying still long enough to let shit heal. Abby will have to decide that."

He shrugs and watches him work. His arm still aches but the wounds themselves aren't too bad, he didn't pay much attention to them the day before and the stitches are a lot neater than he expected from a sewing needle, each wound closed tight and the skin lined up evenly. He wants to know if the large scars over Neil came from wounds too ugly to heal properly or from shaking hands as he did the stitches himself.

"Did you want to talk about it?" He offers quietly.

"What?"

"The nightmare this morning. You called my name."

Neil's hands still and his eye's glaze over, Andrew has to poke him to claim his attention again. Neil blinks up at him and shakes his head to clear it before focussing on his arm again.

"It doesn't happen all the time, the nightmares, maybe once or twice every few weeks. It's usually just me though. A long empty road and them gaining on me every-time I look. Last night was different."

He doesn't like the way Neil falls silent as he packs away the peroxide and cotton balls, dropping the dirty bandages into the makeshift garbage bag to the side.

"What changed?"

"He had you. At the side of the road, with a knife to your throat. I tried to get there but you kept getting further away, I couldn't help you."

Andrew drew on his cigarette as his worked through the information. "You think he'll use me against you?"

Neil bit his lip and tore a spare cotton ball to shreds in his hands. "Things are different now, aren't they?" He fixed him with a vulnerable stare that had Andrew swallowing any comment he had been about to make. "Last time, we were kids, there wasn't anything tying us together for them to find. Now, we're on the same team, sleeping across the hall from each other. A 20 dollar bribe would have any one here letting them know how important you are to me. I knew this was a risk and I was too selfish to walk away from you again."

Neil hanging his head at the confession wears on his heart more than he can bear. He grabs his chin and forces him to look at him, needing the idiot to understand that he wasn't alone in this, he didn't need to hide from him. Not now, not ever.

"I am not defenceless." He says harshly. "If they come, we will deal with it together. I will not lose you again because you're scared of what they might do to me."

The steel in Neil's voice it strong and clear with his next words. "I will not risk you!" Andrew has heard this before, many times, and he has no doubt that Neil would do anything to avoid his fathers people looking too closely at him, and he hates it. "I'm too _stupid_ to walk away, but I will not let them harm you. If they so much as lay a finger on you, I will burn the whole world down around them."

He bites back a sharp remark and tosses the butt over the edge of the roof. "How about we skip over waiting for them to hurt me and go straight to burning the world down around them."

Neil doesn't hide the flickers of fear that pass over his face as he blinks up at him.

"I’d rather stand beside you and find a way to take them down, than watch you walk away again."

Neil drops his head as a smile blooms on his face and Andrew has a fleeting urge to push him off the ledge for having the audacity to look like that.

"You really want me to stay, huh?" Neil teases with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Don't get cocky." He grounds out.

The Ravens fans had been as busy as they were over the weekend. Instead of fixing their dorm rooms up, they had taken their artistic creativity to the campus. Andrews favourite was the large depiction of a raven dropping a fox from its talons, high above the ground, painted on the side of the stadium. The artist had clearly captured the deadly look in the birds eye and the struggle as the fox fell. It was far better than the petty vandalism that littered Palmetto, 1's and 2's spray painted on walls and sidewalks, less than creative death threats were amongst comments like, we stand with the King.

Nicky let out a low whistle as Neil made a wide circle around the campus on their way to the gym so they could see the extent of it.

"Maintenance is going to have their work cut out for them with this one."

"You shouldn't have attacked him." Kevin's voice shakes behind him.

"You were cowering behind me on national tv." Neil snaps back, without turning to look at Kevin. "Would you have preferred me to sit back and let him announce your return to Edgar Allen, while you were too scared to stand up for yourself?"

"Maybe he should go back," Aaron adds, "its been nothing but a shit-show since he got here."

"Worried, brother?" He flicks Aaron as casual glance over his shoulder.

He doesn't need to keep looking to know that Aaron is burning him with a death glare as Neil swing the car into a spot in front of the gym, turning the engine off.

"Let's just go in and find out how badly your bff fucked up your arm." Aaron bites back, shoving Nicky to get him to open the door and let them out.

The upperclassmen are already inside chatting darkly about the vandalism and tossing questions at Wymack about how badly security screwed up to let this much damage happen. Wymack and Abby stood just inside the door and perked up as they walked in.

"I thought I told you lot to stay out of trouble?" Wymack accused loudly enough for the upperclassmen to fall quiet.

"Boring." He drawled making Neil snicker.

"Andrew's not happy until everything is broken." Aaron moves to stand beside Abby with his arms crossed.

"What happened, Andrew?" Abby asks softly, staring at his wrapped up arm.

"He got into a fight with a window." Matt supplies.

Wymack runs a heavy hand through his hair, his frown deepening as he looks them over.

"Don't worry." He says innocently. "We fixed the damage. Everything is good as new."

"Why didn't you call me?" Abby sighs.

"His guard dog refused to allow any of us near him."

Neil stared blankly at Aaron and Wymack glanced between the two in concern. He shrugged when Wymack sent him a questioning look.

"Andrew?" Abby prompted again.

"You know me, I wanted to be the first to try Jostens vodka and dental floss stitches."

Abby paled as her gaze danced between Neil and himself. Renee stepped forward sensing a new tension in the air and unsure what to make of it.

"Neil tell me that your stitches were done by medical professionals, tell me you didn't have them done with dental floss."

Neil clicked his tongue and studied the empty gym equipment behind Matt. "Don't ask then."

"Dude must have some really messed up shit he's hiding, to make Abby look like that."

Abby stiffens at the comment and glares at Seth.

"Why are you all standing here?" Wymack curses. "You're not here to gossip. Get on with it!"

Renee usher the upperclassmen off to start their circuits, with Allison loudly complaining about being left out of the interesting parts, and Nicky and Kevin trail after them, leaving Neil beside him and Aaron glaring at them from his place beside Abby.

"Where do you want me?" Neil asked quietly, sending him a meaningful look Andrew had no trouble interpreting as a willingness to run interference with Abby if he wanted him to.

Andrew used a quick hand gesture to the equipment. "Shoo fly."

Neil sent him a blinding grin and turned on his heel to start his workout. Matt called out to him a moment later when Andrew turned back to Abby and Aaron, asking Neil how much he could press.

"What," Aaron said derisively. "Don't need him to hold your hand?"

"Don't need you either. Fuck off."

"I'd like to know what damage you've done to warrant... how many stitches did you say he gave you again?"

"I didn't." Andrew countered. "And there is such a thing a patient confidentiality. Just because we share DNA, doesn't mean you get access to my medical files."

"Come on," Abby says softly, waving a hand to the medical room to the side of the entrance. "Let's take a look at the damage."

He taps to finger to his head in a salute and leads Abby into the room, leaving Wymack to deal with a fuming Aaron. He jumps onto the medical bed and hold out his arm as Abby closes the door behind her. She unwraps the bandage slowly, taking in the multitudes of smaller cuts that run down his arm and the three water proof patches that cover the stitches. The one on the back of his hand is the smallest, it only need three stiches. The one on his outer arm runs up just past the elbow and took six to pull it back together. On his inner arm, over lapping the self-harm scars he keeps covered, is the last and needed five. Some of the shallower cuts might still scar, but these were the worst of it.

Abby doesn't say anything as she examines the cuts, gently poking at the stitches with gloved fingers, searching for any signs of infection.

"You could have done with a few less stitches." She says at last, pulling fresh dressing out of the drawers. "I'm assuming that he was trying limit the scaring."

"Sounds like him."

"I really want to yell at you about this, you should have come to me and gotten some anaesthetic and proper medical grade stiches but, it's good work." She admits, annoyance sharp in her eyes. "It's neat. As long as you don't break them, you'll barely notice the scars."

"Admit it, Abby. You hate him a little right now."

Abby tore open dressing pack with more force than needed and shook her head in defiance. "Did he really use dental floss on his wounds."

"Even better," He confides in a stage whisper. "He did most of them himself."

The defiance seeps from her features as she braces herself against the bed, the colour draining from her face again. "This job is going to kill me one day."

"Does this get me out of Friday?" He asks as she re-wraps his arm.

Abby sends him a stern look before responding. "You're off practice for the week and I'll check you Friday morning for the official 'yes or no' to the game."

Abby follows him out to the gym once there done, to be met with the whole team freezing workout to hear the verdict. Wymack must be interested in Abby's decision because he doesn't chide them for it. Andrew finds Neil's eyes where he has slowed to a walk on the treadmill.

"Well?" Wymack demands.

"He is off practice for the week." Abby announces.

"Wait." Kevin calls, dropping the dumbbell to the floor. "What about the game? We can't work with only one goalie."

"I'll reassess the wounds Friday and make a decision then."

"How bad did Josten fuck up the stitches?" Aaron sneers, throwing an ugly look over to Neil who happily ignores him.

Abby clears her throat and Andrew can already hear the confidentiality speech she's preparing when he cuts in. "Go ahead and tell them Abby."

Abby shoots him an uncertain glance and Neil steps of the machine entirely to listen, one hip cocked as he leans against the wall with a grin.

"I do not condone putting your own stitches in with sub-par materials and equipment." She says in her best mom voice, glaring at the foxes and daring any of them to argue. "But, the stitches are neat, the wounds are clean and everything looks to be healing quite well."

"But... You re-did them, right?" Aaron glares at her only to have the same look returned two fold.

"I am not going to remove and re-do fourteen stitches just because I'm unhappy with the thread that was used. That's an excellent way to introduce bacteria to clean wounds, not to mention the unnecessary pain and excess scaring that would come with it."

Aaron hangs his head, shut down by Abby's lecture, while Nicky bounces his attention between them all. "Fourteen?" He squeaks out, looking over to Neil. "You gave him fourteen stitches with a sewing needle and dental floss?"

"Dude..." Matt agrees.

"Badass, Fuckface." Seth nods in appreciation, it might be the closest he could get to a compliment, and Neil raises a single brow to the comment.

"Wanna tell me again about your pre-med program, Aaron?" Neil shoots across the room.

Matt grabs the back off Aaron shirt before he can launch himself at Neil. Neil stares him down with a smirk as Matt pulls him under control.

"Next time, Freshman." Dan steps forward, flicking him with her towel. "Call Abby, you have access to a team nurse for a reason."

Neil grins at her with a hard look in his eye that Andrew knows means that he would continue to precisely what he wanted without regard for their wishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done.  
> To all my readers saying that they are reading while putting off their school work... I should tell you to put your studies first right? But that would make me a hypocrite, considering I'm writing this while ignoring my own!  
> Thanks for your support and I hope to have the next chapter up soon.  
> As always, please leave a comment and let me know what you think so far. It makes my day knowing that my work is being read.  
> Until next time!


	11. Chapter 11

Neil had an hour before he needed to be across the campus for his Italian lecture and a mission to complete before he got there. Friday’s game against Belmont meant that they would be packed up and on the bus by lunch and he would be missing his Calculus lecture that afternoon. He was searching out Amelia, the girl he had started sitting by in the class mainly because she was friends with half the Vixens and Emily had recommended her, to beg her to share her notes with him the next week. Hopefully she would be kind enough to help him out each time they had an away game that bit into his lectures. He had learnt from Emily that Amelia usually had a study group in the library around this time and he was hoping to catch her there. 

He took advantage of the coffee store situated on the ground floor of the library, searching the open space around him as he waited in line. It had several different study areas in the three story building and it was going to take him some time to search them all. He cursed himself for not asking for her number the last time he saw her on Tuesday, tracking people down in person was always more painful. 

The Barista's working behind the counter all wore matching green aprons and caps embroidered with the image of a steaming mug. The bouncing redhead poked her tongue out at the guy beside her with a quick laugh before she turned her smile on him to take his order.

"What can I get you?" 

"Just a large iced soy latte, thanks." He said already fishying the money out of his wallet.

"Can I grab a name?" She smiled, already writing something on the plastic cup in marker.

"Neil." 

"It'll just be a minute." She accepted his cash and gestured to the waiting area before turning around to giggle at her co-worker and make his drink.

He went back to searching the area for Amelia's tell tale black glasses and hoping that she hadn't decided to try contacts today. Not that he couldn't recognise her without them, but it was easier to find someone with an identifying marker, unfortunately the only glasses he spotted belonged to a guy who wore a thick beanie on his head despite the heat with his hair poking out the front of it. He was going to have to search the other areas.

"Neil!"

The Barista leant over the counter holding out his drink.

"Thanks." He said grabbing the cup from her.

"Anytime." She winked at him as he turned away.

Five different study areas checked, and many curious stares aimed his way had Neil thinking that maybe he had forgotten what she looked like after all. He was halfway done with his coffee and close to giving up the endeavour, thinking he could beg for the notes next time he saw her, when a girl called his name excitedly across the room. He perked up at the sound tracing it back to a group of student sitting around a large table near the window. Emily was smiling at him, bright green ribbon threaded through her braids, and waving him over. It wasn't the girl he was looking for, but it was a start.

"Hey Neil. You look lost, did you want to join us?" Emily asked when he got close enough to examine her group of friends.

"Actually. I was looking for..." He paused in his search of the group, eyes sliding past Katelyn and landing on the familiar combination of dark hair pulled back into a bun and thick black glasses. "Amelia."

"Me?" Amelia startles, looking up from the textbook laying open in front of her. "Why are you looking for me?"

Neil points to the empty chair across from Katelyn, Emily nods happily, letting him steal the open seat as the group watches him.

"I was hoping I could con you into giving me a copy of your notes for Calc this Friday." He explains dropping his coffee onto the table and sending her his best pleading look. "I have an away game and I'm going to miss the lecture."

"Tone down the puppy eyes Neil!" Emily laughs at him, while Amelia sends him a calculating stare.

"Who could say no to a face like that!" Katelyn giggles, elbowing Amelia as she chews on her pen.

"I could." Amelia states easily. "I can not be conned... But I can be bribed?"

Neil sends her a wicked grin and leans back in his chair. "Well played. What would it take?"

"Ooohhh" The table grins like they're watching their favourite game show and waiting for the big reveal.

"Shouldn't you lot be studying?" He asks.

"Nah." Charlie grins at him. "This is more exciting."

"We're just missing the popcorn." The blonde guy next to him agrees.

Neil shakes his head and returns his attention to Amelia.

"The café outside of the Mathematics department does the best cookies and cream thick-shakes on campus." She says with a smile. "Get me one before class on Monday and I'll give you the notes."

Charlie sucks in a dramatic breath and holds it while the guy next to him mimes biting his fingers. Neil is tempted to laugh at the dramatics but decides to join them instead. He sends Amelia a hard stare, pretending to be offended by the price. She crosses her arms and looks down her nose at him. Slowly he reaches a hand across the table.

"A deal then." He says primly as she shakes his hand.

"Agreed." She laughs in return.

The table breaks in loud applause, Charlie and his friend stand up quickly throwing their hands in the air, like they just witnessed their favourite team scoring the winning goal. 

"Keep it down!" A familiar angry voice cuts into the celebration. "This is a library!" The group mumbles false apologies and settles back into their seats as Neil grins mockingly at the newcomer. Aaron drops his bag onto the table and glares at him. "I should have known it would be you. Don't you have something better to do than ruin my life?"

"I assure you, my world does not revolve around you, look-a-like." Neil snarks turning away and pulling out his phone before speaking to Amelia again. "Can I grab your number? It'd be easier to text you next time I need to ask for a favour."

"Sure." Amelia agrees holding out her hand. Neil unlocks the phone and passes it over to her.

"Collecting a lot of numbers today, I see." Aaron sneers, still standing across the table.

"What the fuck are you on about now?" He demands as Charlie starts oohing again. Aaron gestures to the coffee cup sitting in front of him. Neil rolls his eyes but picks it up to see what he's talking about. There, written in sharpie below his name, is 'Call me' followed by the name Lacy and a phone number. "When the fuck did that happen?"

"You didn't notice?" Emily grins wickedly at him. "That poor girl!"

"Who do you have saved under asshole?" Amelia asks passing his phone back.

Neil points to Aaron. "That asshole."

Charlie bites his fist to contain his laughter and fails. The blond next to him hides his in his hands.

"Why the hell do you have my number to begin with?"

"Drew put all the Foxes numbers in." 

"And he saved me under Asshole?" Aaron glared at him.

"No." He grinned in return. "He saved you under A-A-Ron." Neil lies as he stands up, slinging his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his coffee. "Thanks Amelia, I'll have your payment ready and waiting on Monday."

"Are you going to practice with us over the weekend?" Katelyn asks hopefully as Amelia waves him off.

"I don't know what I'm doing yet." He grins at Aarons confusion. "I'll text Emily when I know."

He leaves them with a wave off his coffee, grinning at the aggravated look on Aaron face as he claims the now empty seat.

-

The Belmonte game is brutal. As soon as the game starts up Belmonte is set on crushing their players into the wall rather than actually getting the ball. Neil curses from the sidelines and watches as Seth and Kevin spiral into their usual habit of attacking each other when frustrated.

"This isn't working!" Neil complains to Wymack, watching them shove each other around as they make their way back to starting positions. "You need to put me in there and make them play separately. I can work with both of them but they cannot work with each other."

"Is this your argument for starting line-up?" Wymack glances at him as play begins again. "You need to work on your persuasive techniques."

"I'm not looking to start. I'm looking to have the team play as an actual team, which won't happen with those two sharing a court. We do better when they split up."

"He's right Coach." Nicky agrees behind him. "Those two can't play together to save themselves."

"And who am I supposed to take out, hmm?" Wymack asked angrily. "They'll both pitch a fit if I pull them."

"Pull Kevin first." Neil countered. "You're right. Seth's performance goes down hill if he thinks you doubt him, but Kevin plays better if he has something to prove. Put me in with Seth first and Kevin after halftime and they'll both play better."

Wymack turns away from the action to look at Renee and Allison on the other side of him. "What do you two think?"

Allison searches Renee's serene face before responding. "I think the kid's right. We don't have anything to lose by putting him in and giving it a chance."

Renee nods along, unwilling to voice her own opinions or still unwilling to aggravate Neil with her presence. He didn't care either way. Wymack nods slowly, turning back to the game.

"Get ready then. I'll put you in after this play."

Neil pulls his helmet on with a grin, fastening the straps as he runs through a few different plays in his head, trying to work out the best way to counter Belmont's attacks. Wymack calls Kevin off as promised and Kevin huffs the entire way into the box, slamming his racket on the floor as Neil passes him making a bee-line for Seth.

"What's the play?"

Seth grins at him like he is his new best friend. "These bastards have it out for us, Fuckface. Think you can make them dizzy?"

"I might have something that can do that." He grins back, eyeing the defensive line as Dan calls out a warning to get him into place.

Neil takes up his position, shooting a quick glance down the field where he can feel Andrews eyes on him. No doubt the whole team is questioning Wymacks decision here. Dan doesn't wait for an explanation before serving the ball down court. He takes off running. The serve was meant for Seth, so he runs interference, stepping in front of defence and tripping them up as Seth catches the ball, running his ten steps before punting it across to him. Défense is crowding him into the wall already and he won't be able to reach the ball without getting smashed. He sidesteps instead. Watching the defensemen slam into the wall in front of him and darting around to chase the ball on the rebound, scoping it up and sending it back to Seth when his own mark is distracted. The goal lights up red in seconds and Seth punches the air as they make their way back.

Belmont's defensive line has it out for him personally after that and Neil uses it to their advantage, keeping them tied up hunting him down and freeing Seth up for the ball. They're slowly raking up the points and Belmont subs in a new Defenseman, trying to force a change in tactics on the field. Neil grins and sends the new guy a wink as they line up. Across the court, Seth yells a few explicit words of encouragement as they get ready for the final push before half-time.

"Have you even scored yet?" The new guy mocks. "What's a striker that can't score."

"Still worth twice the value of a defensive player that can't defend. Check the score again."

"Yeah, all thanks to your friend, not you."

"Then why did you get subbed in for my mark and not his?" Neil grins, wiping the smile off his face.

Neil slams into him as soon as play begins, pushing him back a few steps and letting him know that Neil wasn't going to go easy on him. He pushes back just as hard only to trip as Neil sidesteps and lands face first on the court floor. Neil takes off running, getting ahead of Seth just as he passes the ball across, and skids under the dealers arm to make a play on goal. Seth slams his racket on the floor in celebration when it lights up red.

Belmont pushes back hard as the minutes count down and the Foxes defence struggles to send the ball their way. Settling for keeping it in Fox possession as much as possible to avoid Belmont closing the point gap. Andrew smashes away any attempts, but the ball still finds it's way into Belmont hands before they can reach it. Neil hisses in frustration when the half-time buzzer goes off.

"Good start." Wymack slaps his back as they head back to the locker room. "Let's keep it up."

Neil drops his gear on the bench and accepts the cup of sports drink Abby passes him. Downing it in a few gulps as the team collapses onto the benches around him. Andrew drops down next to him, already on his third cup and passing him another.

"You're going to wear yourself down, playing like that."

"Yeah," He chuckles. "But it's working."

Andrew let's out an unimpressed sigh and turns his attention to Wymack's half-time rant. Neil tries to keep up as he rehydrates. Following the plays being outlined and committing them to memory. He knows before they even begin that Kevin is going to push hard for the embarrassment of being called off early in the first half. Wymack runs through the line-up for the second half, not mentioning Seth coming in for either of them and keeping him as an if needed player. Seth doesn't seem too put out by this having played the full first half already, he seems happy to sit back and take the game in from the sidelines. Wymack tosses Andrew a throw away question about going in for the second half and Andrew glares at him in silence for a full minute before telling him that he'll go back in at the 25-minute mark and not a moment sooner. 

"You'll wear yourself out, playing like that." Neil shoots back at him with a grin. Andrew flicks his forehead in response and ignores Kevin's grumbling about him refusing to play when he asks.

As predicted, Kevin steps onto the court with nothing but fire and determination to prove himself by obliterating Belmont. Switching to French and sending Neil a stream of plays and instructions as the game continues. He berates Neil for each risky move he makes, but Neil still finds ways to send his mark colliding into other players and walls, keeping true to his work about sending them home dizzy. With Kevin on court, Belmont starts splitting their time between the strikers, giving Neil more openings to shoot on goal than he had gotten with Seth. Walking away from the final buzzer with four points under his belt and the Foxes up by three. 

Neil grins wickedly, allowing Kevin to sweep him into the on court celebrations, and laughs his way through the post game handshakes with Belmont. The defensive line are less than pleased with his smug attitude. The team takes the celebration back to the away room after that, to drown themselves in sports drink before they shower.

"You didn't pull any, did you?" Neil asks when he spots Andrew rubbing his arm.

Andrew shakes his head slowly but the teams attention has already found itself on his arm and Abby is moving closer with a concerned look on her face. "No. It's just sore."

"We should check it before we get back on the bus." Abby says clearly, sending Wymack a hard look as if blaming him for Andrew over doing it.

"Shower first." Andrew counters, looking around at the girls. Renee has already showered and is happily chatting away with Dan when she catches his look and pokes Dan in the arm. Dan glances over and picks up on whatever signal Renee had sent her.

"Yeah, so, Alli and I are going to take press duty." She announces without preamble, her eyes lingering on Neil. "You can use our showers if you like?"

"What?" He asks, staring between Andrew and Dan. "Why?"

"There are no stalls here." Andrew fills him in, expecting him to catch on.

Neil scrubs a hand through his hair and weighs up his options. He could wait for the guys to be done, make them late and still risk having someone walk in on him, or he could take the girls offer and accept the kindness of someone he would rather stab. His eyes must linger on Renee a moment too long because Andrew shoves his shoulder gently.

"Just accept the offer. I'll come with you and make sure no one else is going to walk in alright?"

"Okay, yeah." Neil accepts quietly, his eyes on the ground. "Ah, thanks."

"Jesus, kid." Dan mutters. "Just let people be nice to you."

"Since that is settled." Wymack cuts in. "Let's get going, I don't want to be here all night."

"Uh-huh, old man!" Dan says affectionately, shouldering past him and pulling Allison through the door with her.

"Come on Matty-boi." Nicky calls over his shoulder heading to the boys locker room. "I know where we're not wanted." 

Mat rolls his eyes, patting Neil on the shoulder as he turns to leave. Seth and Aaron both make gagging gestures but wisely choose not to say anything to Nicky's comment. Andrew shoves his bag at him and nods to the women's locker room. Neil takes one last glance at Renee who has started up a conversation with Abby and follows him. 

Andrew drops his bag on the bench and sits down beside it, systematically undoing the bandaging on his arm. "You go first. You'll be less paranoid the faster you're done."

"Thanks." He says again, meaning it fully this time. "Are you sure you didn't pull any?"

Andrew holds his arm out in offering. Neil steps forward slowly holding his fingers just above the skin until Andrew nods before taking off the waterproof dressings. Sitting like this in an empty locker room is strangely intimate and Neil finds himself enjoying the quiet calm that settles over them. The wounds are neat and clean, no pulled stitches and still no signs of infection. They are healed enough now to look at taking the stitches out, as long as Andrew doesn't over exert himself again. 

"Ask Abby how much longer she wants you to keep these in. They should be fine to come out soon."

Andrew hummed absently, no longer interested in his arm, as he kept his eyes on Neil's face. "Go shower."

"Sure." Neil dropped his hands away from his arm slowly, shaking off whatever half-formed thoughts were distracting him, and getting up.

He tucked himself away in the corner of the shower, where someone would have to walk fully in an take a sharp left to see him and scrubbed himself down quickly. He was already wasting time by getting lost in his thoughts and the longer he took the more likely someone would come in to kick them out or check if they were okay. He didn't fancy either scenario. He towelled himself off when he was done, wrapping the towel around his waist when he remembered his bag sitting in the locker room with Andrew.

Andrew was laying down on the bench, using his bag as a pillow, when he walked in to look for his clothes. He barely cracked his eyes open as he rummaged through his bag.

"I'm done. The showers are all yours."

Andrew open his eyes and stares up at his chest as he pulls his clothes out. "What is that one?" He asks softly running a finger from his chest to his belly. "I can't figure it out."

Neil knows the uneven scaring that he is referring to, but he looks down at his chest anyway. "Road rash. I got grabbed in Montreal, stuffed in the back of the car. One of those things with the bifold doors on the back. Anyway, they were either incredibly stupid or they thought I was, because it was really easy to jimmy the door open. Problem was, we were on the highway by that time and my only option was to jump. Roll under the guard rails on the side of the road and disappear into the forest as quickly as I could."

"Sounds like a bad day." Andrew says getting up and grabbing a towel. "One day I'll know all the stories behind your scars." 

"Unlikely," Neil counters. "I don't remember them all."

Andrew trails his fingers along one long scar that starts at his bicep and curls over his shoulder blade on his way past. Neil shivers at the contact and tries to focus on getting dressed when he hears the shower turn on.

There was nothing unusual about the interaction, but it left him feeling charged and off-kilter, and unable to keep still while Abby stepped in to check Andrews arm before they surrendered the room to the girls again. Thankfully, the team was too wired on their win to notice anything strange about his behaviour, Andrew sent him several searching looks as they loaded up the bus that had him wishing he knew what the hell he was feeling. If things kept up like this he was going to have to find some-one to explain it to him and the only one he trusted for that was Andrew himself.

Andrew dropped down into the seat beside him within the first hour of the drive, while most of the team where still up the front making a racquet and rambling about the game, leveling him with a considering gaze that strip his soul bare. "What's going on, Junkie? You should be on a high with the rest of these idiots, not looking like you're waiting for your next fix."

"I don't know." He admitted, he wondered absently if he had lost all ability to mislead Andrew. The truth came out of his mouth without him stopping to think these days. Andrew didn't respond right away, measuring the truth in his words and deciding not to push it.

"We're going to Eden's tomorrow," He stated, looking out the window at the passing traffic. "I want you to come."

He let the unasked question hang in the air between them. Taking the time to study Andrews profile until he turned his hazel eyes on him.

"I thought Aaron had a thing about me going to Eden's?" He questioned. 

Andrew shrugged in return. "He needs to learn that you're not going anywhere, and Eden's is supposed to be where we can all relax, not just him."

Neil weighs it up in his mind, thinking about Aaron complaints that he was ruining his life, Aarons annoyance could only be an added benefit at this point. 

"Alright." He agrees. "What do I need for a night at Eden's?"

"Just pack for a night away and bring the boots I bought you. I've taken care of the rest."

He didn't really know much about Eden's, other than it was where the cousins each held jobs while the twins were in high school, to help fund their household and prove that Nicky was a capable guardian. That and it was the club where Andrew was arrested for beating four guys near to death after they made the dismal mistake of jumping Nicky. Despite that incident, they all seemed to hold the club in high regard, almost like a second home. Needless to say, Neil was curious to find out more.

"Aww..." Dan cooed popping up over the seat in front of them, with Allison sliding in beside her. "I don't think I've ever seen you sit with any-one."

Andrew clicked his tongue and levelled her with a bored stare. "I know where you sleep, Wilds."

"Oh, come on... I'm being nice."

"Yeah, we just wanted to ask your favourite a question." Allison added with a sharp look.

"Always a catch." Neil muttered to himself.

"Not a catch," Dan said holding up her hands, only to be contradicted by Allison's smug smirk. "Just a question."

"What's with the hate towards our favourite Christian?"

Neil sighed audibly, turning his attention to the window.

"It's just that, personal issues tend to make their way onto the court and if we can help you guys sort this out, it would be better for the team."

"Better for the team." Andrew mocked, pulling a blade from his single armband and turning it over in his hands.

"Utter trash." Neil countered harshly. "Seth and Kevin punch on with each other each time they step onto the court and you're not harassing him."

"Yeah, bu-"

"Seth and Allison gang up and trash talk Nicky over his sexuality every other day, and she's not trying to fix that." He jabs a finger in Allison's face as she huffs. "Matt wants to hit Kevin so badly he practically begs me to ask him to do it, so he'll feel more justified when Drew kicks his ass. You don't care about building a better team, and don't get me started on the way you lot treat Drew."

"We're trying to be nice, Freshman!" Allison sneers, dropping all false pretences.

"No. You're trying to get gossip or win one of your fucked-up bets. Which is it?"

"Renee is our friend." Dan attempted to say calmly. "And she's quite upset about whatever happened between you two. We just want to help."

"We don't want to see her hurt."

Neil bristled at that, thinking just how she had hurt Andrew through her actions but the while team was more concerned about her. "Have I harmed her?" He snarled at them, Dan shook her head quickly while Allison froze, the colour leeching from her face. "No. So this conversation is without purpose. Leave."

"You know," Andrew began as they watched the girls scurry back to their seats. "I'm surprised that they managed to keep Renee distracted long enough to do that. She must be letting herself slip."

At the front of the bus, Renee and the others were being caught up on Allison's no doubt dramatic re-telling of their own stupidity. You could see the moment that she realised that her friends had come close to death by the sudden stiffening of her spine and the way she whipped her head around to them. 

"Try not to kill anyone on the bus." Andrew nudges him with his knee, providing a much needed relief from the anger building up again. "Too messy."

-

Andrew replaced the white bandage with his new armbands, stretching them over his arms until they sat right. Aaron had been grumbling into his coffee from the moment he had gotten up, watching him pack, and cursing about his criminal friend being included in their 'family bonding time'. Andrew had pointed out that Kevin had been coming on trips to Eden's for the better part of a year now and Aaron had never once complained about him. Nicky took the news with much more grace. Happy to include Neil as one of their own and he was sure that Neil's ability to talk him down had helped ease Nicky into that decision.

"Have you got your shit together?" He asked them all, perfectly aware that Kevin hadn't even started. "I'll be waiting in the hall."

He tossed his bag over his shoulders and fingered the keys sitting heavy in his pocket. He had been carrying them for a week now, trying to figure out an acceptable way to hand them over, unfortunately there was no known etiquette around opening your house to some-one. It wasn't like they were moving in together. Regardless, it made his heart beat uncomfortably fast and he had been avoiding it for that reason.

Neil's dorm room door was unlocked again. He was beginning to wonder if any of them bothered with the lock at all. Matt looked up from where he was sprawled on the couch, sending him a quick acknowledgement before turning back to the TV. It was a muted reaction compared to the blinding grin Neil sent him from his spot, perched on his desk and phone pressed to his ear.

"I've got to go, Emily." Neil said clearly, sliding off the desk. The small tilt in Matt head let him know that Matt was more interested in his roommates conversation than whatever was playing on the TV. "I'm beginning to think you only want me there to pick Sarah up for you. I'm feeling very used right now." Neil teased on the phone, grabbing his duffle from just inside the bedroom door as he listened to the reply. "Uh huh. Tell Charlie that he can survive without me. I'll see you guys later... Bye."

"Cheer-crisis?" He deadpanned, catching Matts attention and making Neil laugh.

"They asked me to hangout with them this weekend, apparently they're disappointed that I won't make it." Neil mocks lightly. "Hey, which would piss off Aaron more. Me going to Columbia with you guys, or me spending the weekend hanging with Katelyn and the other cheerleaders?"

"Hanging with Katelyn where he can't see you!" Matt calls from the couch.

"I don't think it matters." Andrew says, touching the keys again. "He's going to be in extreme bitch mode in about ten minutes."

"Why?"

"You'll find out when we get to the car." He said looking around the room for any signs of Seth or the girls. "Aren't there usually more people here on the weekend?"

Neil scoffed and looked over his shoulder at the empty dorm. "I think Allison is boycotting me and forcing Seth into siding with her. He said 'later Fuckface!' as he left, so I'm pretty sure he's not actually mad at me."

"Allison's just being petty." Matt sat up in his seat. "Renee told her and Dan that they crossed a line by putting everything on you, but she didn't want either of them around you until you had a chance to cool off. Dan wants to apologise but Renee wants her to stay in her sight for the weekend."

"I'm scary." Neil deadpanned.

"The cheerleaders flee from you in terror." Andrew agreed solemnly. Neil split into a blinding grin again, letting a laugh escape his mouth. "Come on, let's see if the others are ready yet."

Neil bid Matt goodbye as they stepped into the hall, neatly closing the door behind them. Nicky and Aaron leant against the wall waiting for them, doing their best to look bored, the illusion was shattered by Nicky biting back a smile and Aaron's inside-out shirt. Neither of them mentioned it, but Neil sent him a significant look while they waited another five minutes for Kevin to show up bleary eyed and hair uncombed.

"Too early." Kevin yawned into his hand.

"It's midday." Neil countered, shaking his head in disappointment. His statement was met with shrugs and tired glares as Nicky began leading the way down the stairs and Kevin grumbled about the fact that they had an elevator 'right there!'.

Andrew pulled the keys out of his pocket. Running his thumb over both the car key and the house key looped through the simple fox keyring, before twirling them around his finger as they made their way to the parking lot.

He opened the boot and arrange their bags neatly inside as each person passed theirs over. Nicky stood at the door behind the driver seat, Kevin the passenger and Aaron behind him. As always, Neil stood of to his side waiting patiently to see what was going to happen next.

"Wrong door, Kevin." He gestured to the empty space beside Aaron. Kevin mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and shuffled his feet down as he unlocked the car to let them in and tossed the keys to Neil.

Neil caught them deftly and sent him a curious look as he made his way to the passenger seat. He slid into the car without comment and waited for Neil to take his place in the drivers seat.

  
"You have got to be kidding me." Aaron muttered, as Neil climbed in.

Neil shook the keys at him in, before starting the car. "Didn't these have more keys on them last time?"

"That set was mine." He agrees. "These are yours."

Nicky chokes on air and descends into a coughing fit, beside him Aaron lets out a loud stream of curses to rival the most committed sailor. Neil's attention dances between him and running his thumb over the small fox.

"Okay." Neil chuckles when the noise settles down.

"You know the way?" He asks, knowing full well that Neil is just as good with directions as he is. Years on the run had given him the ability to map out cities easily, noting each alley and shortcut that could save his life if he needed to run quickly. Neil nodded once and flicked the stereo on, pulling out of the parking lot and heading for the highway.   
"Hey Nicky." He shot a look to his cousin. "This is how you drive."

"What?" Nicky leant over Aaron to see the gauges. "I already know how to drive."

"Is that permission?" Neil shot him a grin.

"Since when did you need it?" He countered as Neil hit the onramp, steadily increasing the speed and weaving through the traffic with ease. 

He knew that Aaron hated them both in this moment and honestly, he didn't care. He enjoyed the freedom that came with Neil sitting carefree behind the wheel, in complete control, where he could feel safe and happy. Neil had called him home, but he had provided far more than that for Andrew. He hadn't felt true fear or pain since Abram stepped in to help him all those years ago. He was too far gone to let Cass's pain or Aaron disappointment touch him the same way. Abram had provided relief... and now, years later, Neil was providing hope and happiness. And for the first time, he wanted to be selfish. He wanted to reach out and grab it. Do, whatever it would take, to hold onto it for as long as he could.

Neil came alive behind the wheel. He was in a much better mood than the last time they had driven like this. Now, he was shooting gleeful smiles his way as he weaved through the traffic. Aaron had sat back in his seat within minutes, finding no fault in Neil's driving, and nodding along to the music that Andrew dialled up every few minutes until Neil was laughing.

The trip that would usually have taken a couple of hours, was over in just over one. Kevin had stirred in the backseat as the car slowed on the offramp and stared out the window announcing that they could not possible be there yet.

"Who taught you to drive?" Nicky demanded from the backseat, as Neil weaved his way through the streets of suburbia. Neil shrugged absently.

"Let me guess," Aaron snarked. "Some more homeless and reputable teachers?"

"My Mum." Neil countered. "Among others."

"I bet you have more traffic violations than I do." Nicky laughed, ignoring Aaron's next remark.

"I don't have any traffic violations." Neil sent Andrew a wicked grin.

Andrew glanced back at Nicky to explain. "You need to get caught to get a ticket."

"Licence plates!" Aaron rolled his eyes. "They just have to get your car on camera to send you a ticket."

"I've never owned a car."

"Never taken a driving test either." Andrew commented as they pulled up in the driveway. "Have you?"

"Nope!" Neil said, letting the p pop, and grinning wildly.

What the other's thought about that, he would never know. Choosing that moment to get out of the car and start pulling the bags out of the back. Kevin stretched as he got out, sending confused glances between the house and Neil.

"Where can I stash this?" Neil asked holding up his bag as Andrew opened the front door. It didn't take much to realise what he was really asking was, 'where am I sleeping tonight?'.

"My room." He said tilting his head in a silent gesture for Neil to follow him.

"We should have bought a bigger house." Nicky mumbles, stepping inside behind them. "Our family is getting bigger than I thought."

Andrew thought about that comment for the rest of the day. He and the term 'family' had never gotten along well. He had claimed Nicky as his own years ago, but even now he couldn't bring himself to apply the term to Aaron, and it had never entered his head that Kevin might be included. He had used the term when explaining to Neil that these people were his, but it hadn't sat right even then. Neil was... well, he didn't know what Neil was to him. Family didn't seem like a strong enough word to define what they were to each other.

Neil looked good in black. The clothes Andrew had picked out weeks ago and left occupying space in his wardrobe managed to make him look every part the badass that he was. Ripped jeans with more pockets than anyone needed, and chains slung between them, as well as a form fitting shirt with 3/4 sleeves to cover his scars and artfully distressed. The whole outfit paired with the biker boots he had bought months ago and several braided leather bracelets. Nicky couldn't hide his appreciation and Andrew had to agree, even if he had to threaten Nicky into keeping his mouth shut. He wished he could have convinced him to drop the contacts as well, but he knew that would never happen with Kevin around.

They started at Eden's early that night, getting in a few hours before the blue laws would take effect, and the club was already crowded. Neil's survival mode goes into hyperdrive and Andrew can see him cataloguing the layout, with each entrance exit and side room, paying equal amounts of attention to where the staff disappear into the back and the other patrons around them.

"This is the perfect place to make some-one disappear!" Neil gestured around them to the dark corners and crevices that made Eden's appeal to so many. "No one would ever see or hear anything and if they did, I doubt these patrons are the type to file a police report."

"That's a big part of the appeal." He called back over the loud music as they made their way to the bar, where it was quieter. "That and the fact that the staff knows us here. We have a certain amount of amnesty within these walls."

"Then why were you arrested here?"

Andrew shoulder's his way into a position at the bar, pulling Neil in behind him by the wrist, and sending a quick nod to Roland. "They jumped Nicky in the alley down the block. Outside these walls we still have to deal with public outrage over four guys bleeding on the sidewalk." 

Neil looked unconvinced as he turned his attention to the crowd, searching out any signs of trouble, Andrew responded by tugging him closer into his side as they waited. Neil leant a hand on the bar in front of him with his chest pressed lightly against his arm, scanning the room and watching his back as always. Andrew had rarely felt uncomfortable here, and most of that was in the early days during the first few times he had ventured out from around the bar, but it was nice to know that he had someone to rely on.

"Holy shit." Roland called out as he made his way over to them, sidestepping the calls for more drinks from the waiting patrons. "Nicky said you had an old friend show up. Is this him?"

Andrew hummed, nodding in agreement. "This is Neil," he introduced, pulling Neil's attention from the crowd. "Neil, meet Roland."

Neil sized Roland up quickly and offered his fist. He wasn't sure which one of the Foxes had taught Neil that a fist bump was an acceptable version of a handshake, it might have been Matt, but Roland took it with a wide grin as he raked his eyes slowly over Neil's form. A look Andrew had seen on many occasions that would not bode well for Roland's life expectancy. Neil didn't seem to notice the attention, having snapped his eyes to two men shoving each other around further down the bar.

"Neil will be with us from now on." Andrew explained. The hard edge of his voice was a quiet warning to Roland not to fuck with him. Neil must have heard it to, because now he had eyes only for Andrew as he attempted to work out the problem.

"He's hot." Roland admitted with a sly grin as he started making their shots. "Nicky must be in love."

"What?" Neil stared between them in confusion.

"Nicky doesn't touch him." The unspoken 'and neither will you', hangs in the air between them as Neil tries hopelessly to catch on. Roland is almost finished with the shots when Andrew takes pity on him. "Roland would like to get into your pants." He explains to his bewildered friend. "You might have to explain things to him, unless you want him hitting on you later."

Neil stammers awkwardly trying to hide from Roland's steady gaze and easy smiles.

"Come on, I'm great in bed and willing to try almost everything at least once." Neil goes red and splutters something about that being unnecessary and Roland's eyes narrow as his grin grows wider. "If you haven't been with a guy before, I'm told that I can be an excellent teacher."

Neil is trying to hide behind him now and Andrew finds himself stepping in to help him out, tugging Neil's arm to pull him beside him. "Let's make this easy on everyone. Neil, do you want to sleep with Roland, yes or no?"

"No!" Neil declares quickly shaking his head. "No. Not to be rude but, that is never going to happen."

Roland lifts his hand in the air, still smirking. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

Andrew directs him to add an unopened can of soda and bottle of water to the tray when he's done before they make their way back to the table. Neil sticks to his side the entire time, only moving to push people out of their path. 

"About time." Nicky grins at them when they sit down, sliding the tray into the middle. "What took so long?"

"Roland was hitting on Neil." He says passing the shots out. "For some-one who can understand how many things are motivated by sex, you have no clue how to recognise when people are checking you out, do you?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Neil counters weakly, grabbing his soda from the tray. "It's not like they send out flashing signals to warn me."

Andrew levelled him with a tired stare. "Roland wasn't being subtle. What do you think it means when people rake their eyes over your body like that?"

"That's how people check for weapons." Neil jabs a finger at him in defence.

"Give it up." Aarons says downing a shot. "The idiot didn't even notice the girl’s number on his coffee cup until I pointed in out the other day."

"You had the barrister hitting on you?" Nicky asks with a smug grin. Neil makes a vague motion with his drink and rolls his eyes.

"Thanks to that," Aaron continues. "I had to sit through a whole conversation over which cheerleaders had tried and failed to get his number or ask him on a date. A lot of them are pissed that only Emily and Amelia have his number."

He downs a shot and tries to figure out who Amelia is. He's seen all of the vixen's and none of them were named Amelia. Apparently, Nicky was having the same thoughts.

"Who is Amelia?"

"She's in my Calculus class." Neil rolls his eyes. "I was only there that day to ask her to share her notes from Fridays lecture."

"Good." Kevin adds, barely paying attention to the conversation as he watches the dance floor. "You need to keep your GPA up."

"How did Emily get your number then?" Nicky wants to know. Andrew knows this one and he's interested to see if Neil tells them the truth.

"I asked her to send me some pictures she took." He hedges with a sharp grin.

"Of what?" Aarons demands.

"Yeah Neil." Andrew mocks. "Of what?"

"Every unflattering or potentially compromising image of Aaron that the cheerleaders have. I'm planning on making a calendar with them."

"You little prick!"

"Asshole."

Andrew huffs at the stare down between the two. It wasn't the first and it wouldn't be the last time this happened, they seemed to find each other’s nerves better than any other Foxes, and both were as volatile as each other in their own ways. Aaron was going to throw a punch one day that would have Neil laying him out in self-defence.

"I feel like you overuse that term for him. You really need to change it up." He interjects claiming the tables attention again.

"You're right." Neil grins. "There are better terms to describe that absolute tosser! I should change it up and start using things like wanker, tosspot or utter knob."

"Speak American, moron." Aaron glares at him. 

"Why? Are British terms too difficult for you." 

"Fuck this!" Aaron declares, downing the rest of his shots and making his way to the dancefloor without another word.

"Do you need to antagonise him?" Nicky asks redundantly.

"Yes." Neil waves it off, scouting the club again.

Nicky sighs dramatically and heads off to dance as well.

Andrew switches to German, now that they're gone. " _I'm surprised you didn't break out the full British accent."_

 _"I've already shown them that I speak French, I think I'll save the British accent for now."_ Neil smiles sweetly at him, they both ignore the strange look that Kevin shoots them. " _They're going to start wondering how a homeless kid managed to be so well travelled if they learn much more."_

_"I think they're already questioning your background. Aaron is anyway."_

_"Is he still trying to work out who I've killed?"_

_"Among other things."_ He explains. " _The stitches. The knives you gave me. The way Renee watches you. And the thing with the cheerleaders has pissed him off, he thought he had them to himself and now Katelyn is questioning him about why such a nice guy like you, hates him soo much."_

Neil laughs, rubbing his hands together delightedly. _"Maybe he'll be less of an asshole if he realises that Katelyn won't stand for that bullshit. Apparently, he assumed Charlie was gay simply for being on the team and she's not too happy with how he treats him."_

 _"Charlie is gay."_ Andrew confirms, knowing that Neil hasn't paid the slightest attention and wondering if Charlie had been one of those who failed to gets Neil's number as well. _"It isn't an assumption when he doesn't hide it."_

_"Well, there you go... Either way, Aaron was a dick about it and she's not pleased with him."_

_"He's going to accuse me of using you to drive her away from him soon."_

_"Can't drive some-one away when they aren't his to begin with."_ Neil states simply.

He hasn't told Neil all the details about his deal with Aaron. He knows he's clued onto the fact that Aaron doesn't date without his approval but he hasn't asked for details around it. The rest of the Foxes treat Aaron and Katelyn as if they're already together and he's sure that Katelyn looks at it in the same way. He wants to know if Aaron felt the need to tell her to cool it around Neil now that he's friends with the cheerleaders or if she knows that he's not about to ask her out officially.

Kevin is trying to pull Neil into a conversation about Exy tactics for their upcoming games, as he clears the table. Neil is less than interested to hear his breakdowns of the other teams plays.

"Another round and then we'll look at heading home." He nudged Neil's shoulder. Neil tapped the water bottle on the table and nodded.

"I'll hit the bathroom then." He said getting up with him and heading off through the crowd.

He gave Kevin a quiet order to stay put and weaved his way through to the bar. Roland was working his way through the rush as the crowd realised, they were closing in on midnight and the bar would stop serving soon. He sent him a quick signal and waited for him to finish with his customers, shooting glances back to where Kevin was sitting on his own.

"How long have you two been together then?" Roland asks without preamble, lining up his next round. 

"We aren't." He admits, knowing before he speaks that it won't be enough for Roland.

"Sure, and Neil has nothing to do with why I haven't seen you around lately either."

"We aren't together." He repeats, not bothering to argue with that statement. "I think he's Ace. He's not interested in any-one."

Roland sent him a curious look and placed the bottle down, giving him his full attention as he spoke. "He doesn't look at you like he's not interested... and Ace doesn't necessarily mean that a relationship is off the tables."

"I don't do relationships, you know that."

Roland turns back to the shots and grins smartly. "Would you, if it was him?"

Andrew doesn't dignify the question with a response, turning away to check on Kevin and freezing. Alarms start ringing in his head as soon as he sees the group of men taking up seats around their table. Kevin is in the same spot speaking to one of the guys with a drunken version of his media face. The guys around him are gesturing sharply and Andrew is moving through the crowd, ignoring Roland's calls behind him.

He has to shove his way through. After he sends the second person sprawling the crowd gets the hint and parts before him. One of the guys has his hand on Kevin's shoulder and Kevin is going pale under the dim lighting. He watches as the guy moves his hand quickly, grabbing the back of Kevin's hair and slamming his face into the table. A second guy on the other side shoves him backwards, sending Kevin sprawling across the floor, narrowly missing hitting his head on the railing overlooking the dancefloor. He gets there just in time to stop the first guy from lining him up for a hit, grabbing him by the back of the shirt and spinning him headfirst into a nearby table.

It was like watching a film in fast forward. He forgot who he was. Completely focussed on the feeling of flesh tearing beneath his fists. He didn't think of the knives resting on the inside of his armbands. Didn't think about the crowd of people surrounding him in the club. Barely registered the calls of familiar voices begging him to stop. It took the image of Abrams bloody face before him to stop. Even then, he was searching out the idiot who was stupid enough to lay a hand on him while Andrew was around. What he found, was the remaining friends of Kevin's attackers bruised and bleeding, laid out on the floor.

"Drew," Neil said switching to German. " _Not here... Too many witnesses, you need to let him go now. We can always come back... Let him go."_

His calm voice had him blinking through the anger. Stretching out his fist and releasing his grip on the shirt of the guy he held pinned to the floor. Neil seemed relieved, if only slightly.

_"We need to get out of here."_

_"No."_ He replied quickly. " _They're still alive. The guys here won't make any problems for me, we're okay."_

Neil studied his face for a long moment before he accepted it. _"In that case, I need your attention for the next two minutes. Can you do that for me?"_

Andrew nodded, slowly getting to his feet and moving to Kevin's side, keeping Neil in his sight the entire time. Kevin, he realised, was bleeding heavily from a clear break in his nose. The blood was already soaking into the front of his shirt as he sat back against the railing looking groggy and sore.

Neil straightened up looking around him at the bodies of the fallen assholes. Five stupidly moronic bastards that looked like they had wandered in from a lost football game. Their clothes may have been black, fitting in with Eden's aesthetic, but that was about as far as the guys fit in here. They were too clean, with no individual style that defined the Eden's patrons, they looked like carbon copies out of some all American tv show. The perfect son's of Uncle Sam.

"I have to know." Neil said adopting another persona as he addressed the onlookers to this little event. "Who these preppy guys are, that thought they could come in here and start shit."

Several leather clad patrons nodded along with his impromptu announcement, murmuring in agreement about their unsuitability for such a club.

"This guy,” Neil pointed to a large man whimpering on the floor and clasping his knee. "He looks like he just ended his football career and I'd like to know which team just lost a player?"

He pats the guys pockets down, pulling out a designer wallet and making a show out of looking through it.

"Jacob Small. Who apparently isn't that small... oh look, he lives in a really nice part of Charlotte. 24 East street. Carrying near five hundred in cash. A long way from home isn't he." He said tossing the wallet back to its owner and moving on to the next guy. "Another Charlotte Boy. Samuel Chase. Here we go... Belmont University. Lives at Allen hills, 97 Gibbons Road." 

He repeated this for each guy, riling up the crowd to back him in his search to find out who these guys were to think they could come into their space like this. Andrew had to admit that he was impressed by the silver tongue. He had never truly seen it in use before, having always been the one Neil was honest with, and never on the receiving end of his lies. He found himself biting back a grin when he realised that Neil was taking advantage of his eidetic memory to list off each man’s details and addresses so that they could find them later. All the crowd would see was a mouthy little shit making fun of the guys that picked a fight and had their asses handed to them, even then, half of them wouldn't remember them in the morning let alone a week or two later. They wouldn't see what would happen next. The fight may have started at Eden's, but it wasn't going to end there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank to all who harassed me to get this next chapter up, now I expect to hear what you think of it!  
> You know who you are.  
> Seriously, I know it was a few days later than I had planned and I'm sorry. I'll try to be better in the future.  
> Let me know what you think!


	12. Chapter 12

He was shoved out the back door and into the dark and dirty alley. Kevin was tripping over his own feet beside him and Neil had to sling his arm around his shoulder to keep him up as they went. The silence in the alley rang out louder than the thrumming music in the club had, amplifying the rush of blood through his head as his eyes adjusted to the light spilling weakly across over the empty crates and broken bottles that lay scatter across the path.

"Where's Drew?" He called over his shoulder to Nicky and pushing Kevin up against the building to free his arms.

"He took Aaron to talk to the bouncers. They'll be out in a minute." Nicky sounded rushed and bone tired, Neil got the impression that he was sobering up faster than he would like. "Why does this keep happening?"

He stiffened at the sound of a bottle rolling across the concrete. Straining his eyes to make out the disturbance and catching sight of the rat tail disappearing through a drainpipe further down. He relaxed only partially as he retrieved a discarded milk crate and shoved it against the wall beside Kevin and using his shirt to drop him onto it.

Kevin sat heavily with a disgruntled "'uck!"

"I need some light, Nicky." He called, pushing Kevin's head back so he could see the extent of his broken nose. Blood had streamed down his face and coloured his teeth bright red in the light from Nicky's phone. The nose sat on an unnatural angle that they needed to correct quickly.

"'ucking,'aves" Kevin tried again, struggling to breathe through his mouth.

"Don't talk yet." He ordered, holding him down with a knee on his thigh. "This is going to hurt, but you need to stay still and let me do it."

Kevin groaned but didn't complain when he braced a thumb either side of the broken cartilage.

"You’re not..." Nicky questioned weakly.

"Yep."

Kevin's gargled scream broke the silence with startling clarity as Neil snapped his nose back into place. Holding him steady as his scream broke into a choked back sob and checking the placement with his fingers. It was going to leave a bump, but his nose would remain straight and that was the best he could do for him. The back door of the club burst open moments later with Andrew skidding to a halt in the alley, knives raised and eyes wide. Aaron tumbled through the door a second after as Andrew took in the way he was leaning on Kevin and examining his face.

"Wait!" Nicky yelled, waving the light around wildly. "It's us! Everything is okay."

"'At hurt!" Kevin cursed pushing Neil off him and turning to spit the blood out on the ground.

"Who was screaming?" Aaron asked staring around they alley as if expecting some-one else to magically appear.

"Kevin." Nicky admitted, as Andrew stashed his blades away and pushed past him to check. "Neil just reset his nose."

Andrew grabbed Nicky's phone in one hand and Kevin's face in the other, using the light to check out his nose and nodding when he was satisfied that everything was okay. He moved back and roamed the light first over Nicky and then Neil.

"You're still bleeding." Andrew said tapping Neil's bloody cheek, where the blood was running down from the gash on his head just above the temple.

"I can't do much about that here." Neil ran a hand through his hair, tugging loose strands away from the sticky blood. "Head wounds always bleed more, good thing I bought the first aid kit, huh?"

Andrew clicked his tongue and tossed the phone back to Nicky. "Let's go."

Andrew pulled Kevin to his feet and took the lead through the maze of alleys. Not knowing the way himself, Neil took his place at the back behind Nicky, keeping an eye on the group as they made their way to the underground parking lot where the car was. Nicky and Kevin seemed to shaken to talk on their way and Aaron, who had missed the action, was too annoyed by having his night cut short without a proper explanation.

"Are they going to call the cops?" Nicky asked when the final door shut on the car with them all inside.

"They started the fight, attacking Kevin unprovoked." Andrew growled, twisting the key in the ignition and backing out of the space. "Do you think they want to inform the pigs that they attacked a national figure and then had their asses handed to them?"

"'Ave's." Kevin gurgled.

"What?" Nicky asked.

"Ravens." Neil enunciated, while Kevin waved of the question, dropping his head back on the seat. "Head forward until the bleeding stops."

Kevin straightens in his seat and bends his head forward, bracing himself on the back of Neil's seat.

"Throw this in the glove compartment." Andrew said shoving the orange VIP badge at him. "We'll give it back next time."

Neil did as he was told as Andrew pulled the car roughly into traffic.

"Anyone here have an issue with me sorting these bastards out?" Andrew demanded, glancing at each of his family in the rear-view mirror. Nicky shook his head quickly and Kevin huffed something that could roughly be translated to 'no'.

"What do you mean by sorting them out?" Aaron asked defiantly. "Are you going to kill them?"

"That would depend on what I find out about them." Andrew explained slowly. "Best case scenario, they're just disgruntled Ravens fans that don't like Kevin playing for us or, they were paid to take care of him now that he's playing again."

Aaron folded his arms across his chest and stared out the window. Neil didn't have to look to be able to feel the tension rolling off him in waves. He knew enough about the twins relationship to know that Aaron still needed Andrew, despite his anger, and that meant that Aaron would be forced by that need to cover for him to keep him around. It was obviously something he had difficulty in admitting.

"Fine," he agreed after a long pause. "Whatever."

"Where do you stand?" Andrew asked flicking his arm. 

"Where I've always stood." He says easily, noting the turns Andrew is making to get them back to the house.

"I need it spelled out this time. If I go after them... Where will you be?"

"I have no intention of seeing you arrested." Neil flicked him a steady look. "I am infinitely better at covering our tracks than you are. If you don't have me by your side in this, I'll be highly offended."

Andrew's mouth pulled up as he shook his head. "You always did risk too much for me."

"The two of us working together... Isn't as much of a risk, is it?"

Andrew nodded slowly, relaxing into his seat. "What's your first piece of advice then, Yoda?"

"Should we be having this conversation here?"

"They won't rat you out or they'll have to deal with me."

"Is Yoda a master criminal?" 

Aaron groaned into his hand in the backseat. "He's a fucking moron!"

Neil rolled his eyes, ignoring Aaron latest outburst, and continued. "First we need to let tonight blow over. Regroup, research and figure out what you what to achieve so we can plan it out."

"Patience young grasshopper." Nicky mumbled absently, drumming his fingers on the window as he stared at the passing headlights.

"I don't know what that means."

"Don't worry. Stick to what you're good at." 

"Evading capture?" Neil deadpanned.

Andrew looked disgusted with the mere mention of his capture. "How many times have you been grabbed?" He asked sending him a scathing stare before turning back to the road and rushing through the intersection as the light turned red, ignoring the blaring horns behind them. "Is evading capture really your specialty?"

"Okay... Daring escapes?" Neil amended mockingly. "Murder and or torture 101? Driving skills? Street Races? I can do this all day."

Andrew backhanded his arm lightly. "Shut up."

"So, what?" Aaron huffed, grabbing the console and sitting forward to glare at Neil. "You're basically an assassin for hire?"

"Assassins get paid." Neil countered with a sharp grin.

"You're full of shit!" He said turning to Andrew instead. "This guy is a walking fabrication. You can't possibly believe a word he says."

"You've seen him drive." Andrew drawls, slowing the car as they reached their estate. "How much of that do you think was a lie?"

"So he can drive, that doesn't mean that he murders and tortures people?"

"Torture, no. But I'm sure he knows how." Andrew waved him off. "And would it really be considered murder?"

Neil huffed a laugh dry and without mercy. "Some would definitely be considered murder." He thinks back to everything he's done that wasn't directly self-defence. Thinks about the blood he spilled happily for Andrew. "California was."

Andrew shoots him a knowing look, appreciation etched into the lines of his face.

"Full. Of. Shit!" Aaron reiterated harshly.

"Believe whatever you would like, just don't get in our way." Andrew warned him.

"How is it that everyone believes you to be a serial killer, but I'm supposed to be what? A puppy who's all talk and no bite?" The one time he tells the truth to these people and they think he's lying, unbelievable. 

"Are you complaining?" Andrew questions. "Isn't your whole thing about going under the radar."

Neil shrugs, watching as Andrew manoeuvres the car into the drive way of the house. It was better the others didn't piece together his history but on the same token, they were already discussing murder thanks to Kevin's over eager fans and Andrew's sworn promise to protect him. The line was blurring more by the day and at some point Kevin was going to piece the puzzle together and call him out. He wanted to know how Andrew would threaten him into compliance when that happened.

"I need another drink." Nicky said stepping out of the car.

Kevin grabbed his bag and made his way straight to the downstairs bathroom when they entered the house, kicking the door shut behind him. Andrew stared after him for a moment while Nicky pulled a bottle from the cupboard and joined Aaron at the table.

"What happened to the other round of drinks you were getting?" Neil asked from his spot against the wall.

Nicky picked his head up, watching as Andrew turned to answer. "I told Roland to pass them along to the bouncers... Helps keep everyone happy."

Neil considered that for a moment as Nicky poured large amounts of alcohol into the glasses in front of him, Aaron stealing the first the second it was done. "Sorry for dripping blood over the floor, thanks for taking out the trash?"

Nicky chuckles into his glass. "Basically."

"Do you need help with that?" Andrew gestured to his head again.

"Nah," He says probing his forehead gently. "But I'd take some vodka if you have it?"

"You know we have pain killers right?" Andrew said pulling the vodka out of the freezer. "You don't have to drink the pain away."

"I thought you told me to stick to what I'm good at." Neil smirked as he accepted the bottle, the gash on his head was starting to throb now that the adrenalin was wearing off. He wasn't one to drink himself onto a stupor, that wasn't the point, he used the alcohol to dull the pain. Never enough to forget it. Pain acted as a reminder of where he needed to defend, his mother had taught him that, if you could feel it then you can use it to your advantage.

"You spoke German." Nicky accused before he could turn away. "When you were talking to Andrew after the fight, you spoke German."

Aaron dropped his glass with an indignant, "What?" Sloshing whiskey over the table as he stared between Andrew and Neil. "What!"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nicky sulked, "We've been using it in front of you for months."

"I don't tell you a lot of things, Nicky." Neil answered taking a swig from the bottle and walking away.

He knew that wouldn't be the end of it. It never was. Now the whole house knew that he spoke both French and German, the questions would start coming in soon about how he had picked up those languages while being homeless, and inevitably lead back to the question of where he had come from.

He grabbed his bag from Andrews room and perched himself on the bathroom counter to examine his wound next to the mirror. He picked the flecks of glass out carefully, groaning in frustration when his hair fell into the wound making him lose his focus as he pushed it back. He could probably use a stitch or two, but he settled on the butterfly stitches he added to the kit, pulling them out and setting them on the counter beside him and turning back to clean the wound with peroxide. The figure slipping in through the open door wasn't wholly unexpected, but he rolled his eyes anyway, watching Aaron in the mirror as he leant back on the shower door to glare at him.

"Something I can help you with?" He asked conversationally and refocussing on his task, ensuring to smooth his face out so Aaron wouldn't see the flinch of pain as he disinfected the wound.

"How did you get that?" He asked, keeping his face carefully blank and failing to achieve Andrews trade mark expression.

"It's a bar." Neil glared at him, more annoyed by the impersonation than the interrogation. "One of them grabbed a glass from the tables and decided to use my head to break it."

Aaron's cold stare intensifies at the sarcasm. "Did Andrew know that you spoke German?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"How long what?" Neil countered, giving the wound another once over before reaching for the butterfly stitches. 

"How long has he known that you spoke German?"

Neil cut them to size to avoid his hairline before he responded. "Since we were kids."

Aaron blinked at that, taking a breath and glaring out of the open door, into the hallway. "He's known the whole time you've been here and didn't think to mention it to us?"

"Why are you in here?" He asked finishing with the stitches and cleaning up the counter. He certainly didn't owe the twin an explanation for what Andrew choose to share or not to share with him or anyone else. How would he have explained in anyway? Here's some random kid I never thought I'd see again, now let me tell you everything I once knew about them?

"I want to know why he trusts you." Aaron says eyeing him through the mirror as Neil keeps his back to him. "What happened between you two that makes him listen to you, when he doesn't listen to anyone else."

"Ask him." Neil turns around to glare at him.

"He won't tell me."

"Then what makes you think that I will?"

Aaron doesn't respond. He stood there with his arms crossed and glares at him, blaming him for not handing over information that he has no need or right to know. Neil stares him down in return, hands on the counter either side of him and crossing his ankles. No amount of tantrum throwing was going to change the fact that Aaron had lost whatever regard Andrew may have had for him. If Andrew didn't want him to know about their history then Aaron wouldn't find out about it from him.

Aaron gave up first. Stomping out of the bathroom and slamming his bedroom door. Neil went to shut the bathroom door behind him, catching sight of Andrew standing by the stairs with a curious look at where Aaron had disappeared, Neil shrugged at the silent question sent his way and gestured to the shower before shutting the door firmly and flicking the lock on.

He was willing to admit it. He had more alcohol that night than at any single time in his past. Not because he was in more pain, he wasn't, but because for the first time he felt that he could without compromising himself. 

He and Andrew had locked themselves away in his room after they were both showered and appropriately patched up. Neil had removed his contacts and Andrew had taken off the armbands for the night. Uncharacteristically, Andrew had asked him to repeat the first piece of advice from earlier and explain what that meant. Regroup, Neil had explained as they sat on his window sill blowing smoke into the night air, meaning they needed to recover from the events, let go of the blind anger, sober up and look at the situation through clear eyes in the morning. Andrew responded by shoving the vodka into his hands again. There was nothing left for them to do that night without implicating themselves further. Andrew struggled with letting the initial rush of emotions go. He may have appeared stoic and uncaring to the others, but having his family threatened and not being able to act in the moment was far more difficult for him.

"Don't touch me." Andrew warned as Neil climbed into the bed, claiming the space he had occupied on his first visit to the house. "I'm angry and I can't guarantee that I won't lash out in my sleep... I don't want to hurt you by mistake."

"I get it." Neil said easily, stretching out under the blanket, his skin buzzing with the effects of the vodka and leaving his mind calm after the unexpected twist to their evening. "I've spent the past eight years sleeping with one weapon or other, under my pillow. I can't count the amount of times I panicked when I woke up and pointed a gun at my mother without thinking." Andrew sent him a steady and incredulous look that made him chuckle. "Seriously. I won't touch you, Drew. It's alright."

Andrew kneaded his pillow until it sat right, resting his head on it with a quiet sigh when he was done, and studying him in the dim moonlight that streamed through the window. "Are you still comfortable with me touching you?"

It was meant to sound mocking, and it did, mildly. Neil could hear the slight tremble in his voice that screamed Andrew's anxiety at the possibility that Neil might think less of him after the nights events.

"You can touch me." Neil reassured with a small smile. "I told you that your touch is calming to me, what I didn't say is that your touch is the only one that has had that effect on me. I trust you."

Andrew shook his head and huffed in defiance. "You shouldn't. I could screw you over tomorrow, do you realise that?"

The anger in his voice only spoke of un-calmed nerves, not annoyance, Neil knew the difference. "You had that power when I was thirteen." He rationalised as they got comfortable, leaving as much of a gap between their bodies as they could. "You didn't use it then and you won't use it now."

"Idiot." He says fondly. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"But you didn't." Neil smirked, closing his eyes as the undertone to their conversation smoothed out to peaceful banter. "Now you're stuck with me."

-

Andrew and Neil sat side by side most of the morning, on the back porch swapping cigarettes and Andrews laptop between them, with frequent trips inside to keep their coffee mugs full. By noon, when the others had finally pulled themselves out of their beds and begun their own search for food and caffeine, they had created several fake social media set ups and befriended and followed the Belmont assholes from the previous night and were searching through their online content to piece together how they had come to be at Eden's. Whatever the reason had been, they had enough brains cells between them to keep it off their accounts, leaving Andrew to set up alerts and monitor their accounts so they could wait for the fallout to start making its way onto their pages. They would have to explain their injuries to their friends at some point and they wanted to see it the moment it came out.

Nicky stumbled out the backdoor, half eaten bacon and egg sandwich dripping a mix of yolk and sauce as he came to halt in front of them, his eyes resting on the cigarette dangling from Neil's hand. "Jesus, you smoke?" Neil stared at him blankly waiting for him to get to the point. "We're learning a lot about you this weekend aren't we?"

"Are you?" Neil asked, putting the cigarette to his lips and drawing on it long enough to keep it alive. "Did you come out here to talk about smoking habits?"

"No." He admitted, leaning on the railing and blinking in the bright sunlight, as he continued to eat. "I wanted to know if we're still going shopping before we leave? Kevin looks like hell, but we still need suits."

Neil blinked at him, still caught up on how much they were apparently learning about him to piece together why they would need suits. Andrew picked up on the confusion, sending him a steady look over the rim of the laptop. 

"Fall Banquet, next weekend." He supplied.

It hits Neil quickly. The fall banquet was a two day event for all the teams in the district to get together and socialise, while playing every sport other than Exy to try and break the competitive streaks in the athletes. They would be going for the main Dinner, but from what Wymack had said already about the Ravens being in their district this time, it didn't sound like they would be there for much longer than that.

"I thought it was optional?" He asked, he was sure there had been something said about it not being a mandatory event.

"Maybe for the players in the larger teams." Andrew huffs dryly. "We unfortunately, only have ten players and are therefore all expected to make an appearance."

"Otherwise we look too small and weak to compete in Class I Exy." Nicky added, licking sauce off his hand. 

"Great." Neil responded as he sunk down in his seat. "And here I was hoping for a quiet weekend."

"You gave up quiet weekends when you signed with the Foxes." Nicky grinned at him. 

Neil sighed, not at all looking forward to placing himself in a room with Riko again. "At least I won't be bored."

-

Three different upscale clothing stores and Neil was ready to lose his mind. How Andrew continued to watch on as Kevin and Nicky argued over which style and colour were in fashion that week was beyond him. He was right in thinking that shopping with any-one other than Andrew would send him murderous. He and Andrew had gotten complete outfits for the night within thirty minutes of arriving and yet they were still standing here, propped up by clothing racks, staring on while Nicky tried on the 50th shirt in aqua marine this time. The only one still paying attention enough to offer him an opinion about the latest attempt was Kevin. Aaron was wandering through the tie section across the store, searching through various shades of purple in a bid to match his tie to the colour of Katelyn's dress thanks to the photo she sent him.

Neil glared down the sales assistant, who was eyeing them in a way that suggested she was thinking about offering help, she ducked her head at the look and went in search of more approachable consumers. "They do realise," he began, glancing past Andrew to size up the two men who had walked into the store. "That we have been here for two hours already."

"You say that like it means something to them." Andrew flicked his fingers, dismissing the comment, and following his gaze to the men now making a bee-line for the assistant. "Two hours is nothing to them. Start approaching five and they'll look at stopping for food."

He gave up on assessing the other customers, none of them presented a threat, and allowed himself to lean more heavily on the rack and wish for a pillow. At least a nap would be a productive use of his time. "We are still planning on making it back to campus by tonight, yeah?"

"With your driving, we'll get there."

That was not reassuring. Not in the slightest. It was only three in the afternoon and the only timeframe for getting back to Palmetto was for dinner which could be anywhere from eight till midnight with the way these guys lived. He stifled a groan and went back to glaring at the assholes who needed hours to pick out a single outfit, suddenly glad that at least Day was suffering with his busted nose and the dark bruises forming around both eyes. Petty, sure, but after helping him out yet again and then being made to suffer through two plus hours of why the right suit made a difference, he felt that Kevin being in as much pain as he was, was only justified.

He felt, more than heard, Andrew move up beside him. It was in the small moments like this where he realised how in tune they were becoming with each other. He didn't need to turn his head to know that Andrews eyes were fixed on him. Andrews mood, though lighter than the night before, was still dark enough and cold enough to freeze people in their tracks. He had barely spoken all morning, even to Neil, despite their hours of research together while the others slept in. His family seemed to take it in their stride, skirting around his reach and only addressing him when it was necessary. So it was a surprise when he felt the finger tips trailing down his arm and snagging on the braided leather bracelet's he had put back on that morning. Andrew used them to tug his hand out of his pocket and bring it up for inspection, trailing his fingers over the leather cords in interest and raising a brow in silent question.

Neil shrugged, he had never been allowed to wear or keep anything that might be considered individualistic while he was on the run with his mother, anything with personality could be used as an identifier an he found that he quite liked the unique look Andrew had given him the night before, not only had he liked it but it had helped him blend into the eccentric crowd as one of their own, and he thought maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all.

"I like them." Is the explanation he offered, knowing that Andrew would pick up on all the words that went unsaid in that. 

"Having them all on one wrist makes the other arm look bare." Andrew drawled lowering their hands and keeping his fingers hovering just below the bracelet's, brushing over the skin on his palm and making Neil want to reach out and take hold. He wouldn't. He knew that Andrew wasn't in the best place after last night and the simple fact that he was choosing to touch Neil at all was a big step forward from last nights roller-coaster emotions. "Still okay?"

Neil let out a shaky breath and allowed the smile to creep over his face. "Yes."

"Don't look at me like that." He said without any heat behind the words and it was hard to ignore the slight flush of red at the base of his neck.

Neil turned his face back to the changing rooms where Kevin and Aaron stood arguing as they waited on Nicky and used his free hand to rub at the grin on his face. It only got wider when Andrews fingers slide down his palm tangling their fingertips together loosely. Not quite how he imagined to be holding hands with someone, but this was definitely handholding. With Andrew. In a men's clothing store, with his family just feet away, even if their hands were hidden behind several rack of clothes. He knew that this was Andrew reaching out for comfort in him, much the same way he had after the Ferdinand show when he asked Neil to lay down with him, this was his way of asking for affection from some-one he could trust. That right there, was something Neil would always struggle to accept. Andrew trusted him. Neil had earned that trust, when he was sure that he would never even remotely resemble a respectable person, he managed to do the right thing by some-one the whole world had written off at birth.

"If I get you something for the other hand, will you wear it?" Andrew asked, still staring across the store and failing to acknowledge that they were doing anything out of the ordinary here. Neil took this as his cue to ignore the joined hands as well.

"Probably. I didn't expect to like the bracelets as much as I do."

"Alright." Andrew said squeezing his hand gently. "I think I have something you'll like. Wait here."

Neil panicked and held onto his hand, keeping him from walking off. "You're not leaving me here on my own?"

Andrew eyed him carefully, passing a glance over his bickering family, and slide his hand more firmly into place with his and rubbing circles on the back of his hand in reassurance. "Half an hour." He said softly. "You can handle them for that long, and when I get back, I'll move them along so we can go home, okay?"

Neil groaned, squeezing his hand again, more for the sake of keeping Andrew by his side a moment longer than anything else. Andrews intense stare didn't waver from his face as he waited for his response, continuing to rub circles into the back of his hand. "Okay." He conceded with a sigh. "Try not to take too long, I can't stand listening to this crap much longer."

Andrew gave his hand a final squeeze before letting go. "Half an hour." He reiterated as he walked away.

Neil watched him go with a sinking feeling in his gut. Alone. To look after Andrews mismatched and clashing family. So much for his plans to stay away from Day. He kept finding himself in the mans company and even worse, responsible for his safety and wellbeing. This was ridiculous. On the upside, Aaron appeared to have settled on a tie to match his not-girlfriends dress and was now attempting to hurry Nicky along. He edged slowly closer to the group, feeling the need to be within reach now that he was the only capable fighter watching these trouble magnets. Aaron shot him a cold glare and looked past his shoulder, searching the store for his wayward brother and scowling when it proved fruitless. 

Nicky's face split into a wide smile when his eyes landed on Neil, he gave a quick gesture to the suit he was currently modelling and did a slow twirl. "What do you think?"

What did he think? It was a suit with a hot pink shirt. "It looks great." He said with more enthusiasm than he felt. "Are you almost done then?"

"No." Nicky said brightly. "But I think I've narrowed it down to three options now."

Neil stifled a groan and turned his attention to where Kevin was leaning against the dressing room wall, gently probing his cheeks on either side of his nose. 

"Poking at it won't help it heal any faster."

Kevin's answering glare would have been impressive if his face wasn't swollen and bruised, as it was, it looked more pitiful than anything. He di drop his hands away from his face though, with an exaggerated rolling of the eyes.

"Ie urt!"

"I know." Neil told him almost sympathetically. Almost. "I'm sure Drew has some over the counter stuff in the car, but if you want something stronger, than you need to move this along so we can get back and you can see Abby."

"Ost none." Kevin said turning back to the suit jackets he had been comparing.

"How the hell can you understand him?" Aaron demanded. "It took me twenty minutes to figure out that he was telling me that a blue shirt and purple tie wouldn't look good. And I only got that because Nicky made the same comment!"

"That's because heteroes have no fashion sense." Nicky grinned poking his head out of the changing room. "Never trust a straight man to pick out his own clothes." Neil got a bad feeling when Nicky's eye's roamed over his own clothes. "Which reminds me, you picked out an outfit awfully quickly?"

"For god’s sake, Nicky!" Aaron stated, pushing off the wall and stalking to another section of the store. Neil watched him go and wished he could avoid these talks as easily.

"Drew picked out my clothes." He admitted, wondering if Nicky would take to insinuating something about his cousins sexuality next.

"Of course he did." Nicky huffed to himself. "Lucky for you, you're friends with the only straight guy in a hundred miles that has taste. How Aaron managed to miss that gene is beyond me."

"Seems to me Aaron missed most of the better genes."

"Ooh. Catty." Nicky smirked. "You sure you don't swing my way?"

"I told you, I don't swing." Neil sighed. "What part of that didn't you get?" _And what part didn't I get, and can some-one please explain it to me?_

"Maybe you just need a push." Nicky said, leaving Neil wondering what had pushed him in Andrews direction. "At least tell me you're bringing some-one to the Banquet."

Neil shook his head sadly, skimming his eye's over the store and checking where Aaron had wandered off too. "I wasn't even planning on going. I'm not going to bring a date."

"Come on... Even the twins bring dates to these things."

"As an'ew askt er?" Kevin asked, holding his final selection in his hands and returning the others to the rack.

Nicky gave him a confused but sympathetic pat on the are before asking "What?"

"Has Drew asked who?" Neil clarified, taking pity on Nicky.

"Oh! Renee?" Nicky smiled in understanding, Kevin gave him and approving nod. "I don't know, Neil?"

Neil put his hands up in mock surrender, at a loss for why they thought Andrew would ask Renee to begin with. Then again, he supposed that it would be one of the ever running bets the Foxes were waiting to settle. 

"El'ful!" Kevin swore in disgust, turning on his heel and heading for the checkout. Finally!

"What the fuck did he say?" Nicky asked quietly.

"He said you have five minutes or we're leaving you here." Neil countered quickly.

Nicky stalked back into the changing room with a final look at him. "That is not what he said!"

Andrew stopped in his tracks when he spotted their band of misfits leaving the store, clothes bundled up in name brand bags and paid for. He searched Neil out in seconds with a curious look as they made their way out to the car. "How did you manage that? I thought I would get to stab some-one."

Neil chuckled as they fell into step with each other, trailing a few steps behind the others. "I just reminded Kevin that if he wanted the good pain meds, we needed to get back and see Abby. I think his head is making him grouchier than normal."

"That's not hard with him." Andrew passed over the box he had come back with. "Here. Don't say I never get you anything."

"I couldn't say that if I tried. You've bought half the stuff I own." He smirked, pointing down to the boots he was wearing. "Did I thank you for these? I wasn't sold on them but after last night... They might be my new favourite footwear."

"Is that why your knuckles don't look like mine?" Andrew asked, looking over the split skin on his hands while Neil laughed. "You used your feet?"

"Feet, elbows and knees. The under-rated tools for those of us without great strength." Neil opened the box and pulled out the watch inside for closer inspection. It was a heavy leather cuff watch, with a thick band and multiple dials on the face. The tradition clock face also included a small compass, the date and a series of numbers that took him a minute to figure out. "Hell, is that longitude and latitude? How often do you think I get caught?"

Neil pushed the box into back at Andrew with a huff and turned his attention to wrapping it around his wrist and fastening the clasp.

"Too often, obviously." Andrew mocked him with bright eyes. "Can't tell me that won't come in handy."

"Did it come with a homing beacon as well?" He snarked in return as they caught up with the other by the car.

"That cost extra." Andrew said moving to the back and arranging the different bags into the trunk neatly. It was like watching a real life version of Tetris. "You're driving. I'll message Abby and let her know to meet us at the Tower."

The drive back was quiet, other than the music pouring out of the speakers. Kevin had he head resting back and his eyes shut, no doubt trying his best to ignore the pain in his head as they drove. Aaron, after last night strange, drunken conversation, was paying close attention to Neil as they drove. Leaning forward in his seat every time they slowed down to see why and huffing when he caught sight of the speed traps seconds behind Neil.

Abby was waiting for them in the hallway outside their room, medical bag slung over her shoulder and Wymack at her side. Chatting with Dan and Matt about their weekend and what new herbs she was trying to grow in her kitchen. Wymack spotted them first, as they stepped out of the elevator, eyebrows going up as her zeroed in on Kevin's face.

"What happened this time?" He grouched, folding his arms over his chest. "Another fight with a wall? Or was it a door this time?"

Andrew dropped his bag and looked at him in challenge. "Your wayward child got jumped by five guys at the club." Neil didn't miss the way Kevin flinched at being called a child. "Lucky for him, we were there to intervene before they could do some real damage." 

"Five guys?" Matt said incredulously.

"And you didn't get arrested?" Dan asked, eyeing Andrews split knuckles.

Andrew mimicked Neil's shark-like grin. "Benefits of friends in low places."

Nicky stepped between them before Andrew could be tempted to take the fight up with them as well. "It wasn't just Andrew that saved his ass this time."

"What do you mean?" Wymack demanded with a tired sigh, as Abby cooed over Kevin. Poking and prodding at his face enough to make him cringe.

"We learned all sorts of things about the criminal." Aaron hissed. He backed down at Andrews warning growl and threw his bags over his shoulder, pushing past the group and into his room. At Matt and Dan's interested looks, Nicky picked up the conversation.

"Like, did you know that Neil spoke four languages?" Neil looked at him quickly. He spoke more than four languages, but he was sure Nicky only knew about three. "English, French, German and broken nose. Apparently."

"Wait," Matt waved at him to slow down. "Neil speaks German?"

Neil's close study of the wall was interrupted by Andrews phone pinging. He watched as a hard look washed over Andrews face as he read the notification. Andrew caught his eye and flipped his phone through the air in thought.

"One down, four to go." He said passing the phone over to show him. "Jacob Small just came out of his emergency knee op. Looks like it will be the first of many and chances of him playing football again and slim to none."

Neil laughed sharply, looking at the pictures the guys girlfriend had posted explaining his unfortunate situation. Jacob didn't look like much, pale and groggy from the aesthesia while he was laid out in a hospital bed.

"Thanks for the boots."


	13. Chapter 13

It took ten minutes to get to the front of the line. Ten slow and painful minutes, just to order a cookies and cream thick-shake. It wasn't even early in the morning. He could understand the crowd if morning classes were just starting but it was almost 11am and he was cutting it close to the beginning of his calculus lecture now, but his word was his word and he had promised Amelia one thick-shake, from this store, in exchange for Fridays notes. Cursing himself for not allowing more time to get through the line-up, he suffered the overly friendly chatter of Dale the barista, and kept an eye on the clock. He might make it in time. He supposed it was possible that most of these students were just starting their Monday and dragging themselves in for their first dose of caffeine for the day, especially the guy slumped in a chair by the window with heavily sunglasses on and his head pillowed on his arms, most students weren't up with the sun for a morning run and weight training at the gym. Either way, it was a bit difficult to relate to the normal college students at times like this, but he hade a mental note about how busy it was for the next time he needed to bribe Amelia.

The long wait had his mind drifting back to the overly dramatic reaction from Amelia's study group when they had come to this arrangement. The way Charlie and his friend had gone over the top with their reactions, how Amelia and the other's had played along and laughed. It could be argued that playing around and having a bit of fun would be considered blending in. Any onlooker would see a bunch of college students mucking around, rather than focus on one individual in the group. He wondered why his mother had never taken those things into account. She was so sure that being friendly with any one would lead to them being discovered that he had to fight to join extra curricula activities at his schools. He had been bored out of his mind, wandering town after town for hours on end until he could slip back to where-ever they were staying that week, he had simply wanted something to pass the time. He hadn't told her the first time he joined the track team, it had taken her a month to figure it out, to say that she was less than pleased would be an understatement. It took months after that incident to argue that being a solo sport, that helped him keep in shape, was actually beneficial to them rather than risky. He didn't need to make friends with the team. After that, he had been able to join in different groups, as long as he kept his distance from other students and he changed groups every time they moved so he wouldn't leave a pattern.

The more he thought about his past and how many things had changed since he had become Neil Josten, the more he began to see that his mothers obsessive paranoia was far more detrimental to their survival than him making the occasional friend. Maybe Andrew was right when he said that it could have been her drawing all the attention to them. And right about the ability to hide in plain sight. One thing was for sure, dressing like he used to would bring him more attention around campus than his new 'Andrew approved' look did.

He accepted the thick-shake, from the guy with the far too bright smile, and pulled up the hood on his sweatshirt. Since they had gone with the shady business deal atmosphere at the library, it was only fair that they continued with the theme.

He ducked into the lecture room with two minutes to spare, and skirted around the back of the desks to lessen the attention he drew as he made his way towards the far side of the room, where Amelia had claimed two desks in the middle. He kept this hood down as he slid into the seat beside her, keeping the shake partially hidden at his side. 

"Psst!" He whispered across to get her attention. Amelia startled at his shady appearance and made a show of looking around the room suspiciously to make sure they weren't being watched. "Do you have the goods?"

He kept his face forward, watching her from the corner of his eye as she pulled her bag onto the desk in front of her and opened it just enough for him the catch sight of a thin manila folder sitting on top. 

"And the price?" She asked out of the corner of her mouth. Neil pulled the cup in front of him, just far enough for her to see it, Amelia eyed it hungrily and gave an approving nod. "Same time?"

"Same time." He agreed moving to cup towards her slowly and watching as she pulled out the folder and did the same. They held the items between them, breaths held in suspense, both with one hand on each item. He met her eyes briefly as their items were suspended between them, coming to a silent agreement and pulling their coveted items quickly away in near perfect synchrony.

Amelia was the first to crack into a smile as Neil checked the contents of the folder like he was counting out money. "I suppose it's acceptable." He said turning his nose up at her.

Amelia hid a laugh in her hand. "You know, you're more interesting when you want something."

Neil wasn't sure whether he should take that as an insult or compliment. Thank-fully, he was saved from replying by the Professor starting todays lecture.

He spent the next hour carefully taking notes and checking over his equations and using every spare moment to read through Fridays lecture notes to see what he had missed. Nothing terribly important, as it turned out, mostly they had gone over the equations from their text book and breaking down the correct formula to use. Neil didn't need much help there, but he would go over the equations later to check his understanding, spending an hour working on maths had never been horrible enough for him to put off. 

"Did you want this number?" Amelia asked as they began to pack up after the lecture.

Neil scanned his noted quickly, searching for what he missed, and pulling Amelia's book towards him to check against her own work. "What number?" He asked when he failed to find anything different.

Amelia held up her long empty thick shake with an exaggerated display to show off the number written on the cup. "Dale," she bat her eyelashes with a sickly sweet smile. "Would love for you to call him."

Neil frowned at the number. That was the second time in a week this had happened. "I just ordered your drink. I was barely even polite. What the fuck!"

Amelia shoved her books into her bag, grabbing the side's of the zip and shaking until they sat neatly enough for her to do it up, and shot him a pitying look. "Most people think that they can begin a relationship based on looks alone." She explained, dumping the empty cup in the bin as they walked out together. "So they hand out their number to people they find attractive. At worst, they don't hear back, at best, they get a date with some-one cute. It doesn't usually end in a relationship, but they still try."

"What would compel some-one to approach a stranger and say 'hey, you're cute. Wanna date?' Seems like madness to me." 

Amelia laughed and steered him towards the coffee shop. "Well it's not always smart. You could end up on a date with a complete psycho."

Neil made a face and pulled out his phone, sending a quick question to Andrew to see where he was. "Are you sure these are the best thick shakes on campus?"

"Do I look like a girl who messes around with milkshakes?" She asked indignantly. "I have been to every café on campus. This is the best."

"How is that even possible?" He asked staring up at the board for the second time that day. "The place has a hundred different coffee places."

"Don't ask questions that you don't want the answers to." She grinned as Neil huffed a laugh.

They were served by the same smiling guy who Neil had gotten that morning. This time he was less happy, his eye's darting between Neil and Amelia as they ordered. Amelia sent him a strange look when he got another thick shake, along with an iced coffee as well. He shrugged it off, checking his phone for Andrews response and leading Amelia over to the science courtyard as they talked.

Andrew was easy to spot. A black hole on a stone bench with the sun making a halo out of his blue hair. He had one foot up on the bench and his head bent as he played with his phone. Neil took a moment to observe him undisturbed. It was rare to see Andrew alone and without the need to be on alert. With their weirdly complicated lives, it was easy to forget that Andrew had yet to turn twenty. He couldn't legally drink yet. Anyone walking past would see him as a young college student with a taste for dark clothes and strange hair, not the man who was moments away from murder just two days ago.

"When did Aaron dye his hair blue?" Amelia asked as they approached.

"He didn't. Do you honestly think the look-a-like would be that brave?" Neil chuckled. "This is Drew, and I'm sure he'll tell you if you're right about these thick shakes."

"Oh?" She said looking at Andrew cautiously. Likely wondering if all the rumours about Aarons wayward brother were true. "Is he a milkshake connoisseur?"

"Drew has strong opinions on everything thing sugar." He explained jumping onto one of the stone benches and walking along them until he was stopped by Andrew's leg. He grinned as Andrew tilted his head back to glare at him, eye's squinting in the sun. "Hey, I bought you some-thing."

"You cannot possibly be this happy after math." He said, pocketing his phone and giving Amelia a once over before accepting the cup Neil held out for him. "I don't know this one."

Neil chuckled at the uncomfortable look on Amelia's face from being dismissed so quickly. "This one, is Amelia and she swears that is the best cookies and cream thick-shake on campus."

"It is." Amelia sniffed, putting her acting skills to the test to seem braver and more relaxed than she felt, and sipping her own.

Andrew flicked her a brief look as he sampled the drink. "She doesn't seem like the preppy type, I thought you said she was friends with your cheerleaders?"

"Ah." Amelia cut in with and annoyed gesture. "I'm standing right here, you know!"

"And spine too." Andrew commented, ignoring her outburst. Neil smothered a laugh as Andrew continued to provoke her, and stepped off the bench so Andrew could stop squinting in the sunlight. "Can't possibly be friends with the cheerleaders."

"Why? Because I'm not pretty enough? Skinny enough? What, my clothes aren't short enough? What is it?"

It was only fair for her to get worked up, unlike most guys Andrew had pulled this on, she hadn't thrown a punch yet. Andrew was watching her now, measuring her reaction and weighing his next move. "You're not ugly. You're not fat. And your clothes have more personality than the entire cheer-squad combined. So I don't understand why a self-respecting girl like you, smart girl like you, would be hanging around a group consisting largely of preppy posers?"

Amelia's anger slipped quickly from her features to be replaced by confusion as she looked down at her feet, tangling her fingers in the hem of her shirt. Neil had no idea what character was printed on it, but Andrew seemed to approve of the choice. 

"They're not all posers... and the ones I'm really friends with are quite smart. They're good people, if you give them the chance." She blinked around the courtyard before her eyes settled on Neil again. "I'm sorry, but what the fuck just happened? First he insults me and then he turns around and gives me a weird ass compliment?"

"You're meeting Drew." Neil smiled. "Honestly, that he's talking to you at all, is impressive."

"Congratulations," Drew drawled, looking at Neil. "You've managed to make a friend, on your own, that isn't a complete airhead."

"Oh, come on!" Neil laughed. "Emily is smart and Charlie isn't too bad either!"

"But neither of them have anything to contribute the thick-shake discussion." He looked over Amelia again. "Which, you are right about, by the way. Kudos."

Nervous laughter bubbled out of Amelia before she could smother it with her hands. "Did I just get Andrew Minyard's seal of approval?" She ran a hand over her hair as she grinned. "I am so giving Katelyn crap over this!"

"Do one better," Neil added with a shit-eating grin. "Give Aaron crap over it."

Amelia nodded approvingly. "Speaking of which, I have to go meet up with them. Any messages you want me to pass along?" She asked with a deliberate air of innocents.

Neil frowned at her while Andrew slurped loudly on his drink. "Why would I need you to pass anything along?"

"Some-thing about a banquet that a few of the girls are hoping to get an invite to?" 

Neil's answering glare was deadly. "No. Feel free to tell any that ask, that I have no interest in dating any of them, in any setting, at any time. If I wanted a date, I would have asked them by now."

"To get this absolutely clear," Amelia grinned despite his hostility. "You have no interest in dating any of the cheerleaders?" Neil shook his head in confirmation. "Even the guys?" 

"None at all!" Neil clarified with a growl.

"Can I be mean about it? Because, I don't think that they're getting the picture."

"Go right ahead. I'm sick of this conversation!" Neil sat heavily next to Andrew. "I don't get it. How hard is it to accept that I'm just not interested?"

"It's not." Andrew agreed, dropping his leg and straddling the seat to face him. "It takes no effort at all, but they won't accept it until they have some way of categorising you or ruling you off limits."

"That doesn't help me."

"I never said it would." Andrew shrugged turning his attention back to Amelia. "I take it you're not one of the ones trying to date this moron?"

Amelia pulled a face. "I have a boyfriend, and better yet, a boyfriend that doesn't spend all his time in the gym and judging my cookies and cream thick shake's."

"Ah!" Andrew's mouth twitched just enough to have Neil grinning again. "But does he deliver them to you between classes?"

"He does not..." She admitted sadly. "But he makes up for it by bringing me cheesecake every Friday night!"

"Pay attention," Andrew said poking Neil in the shoulder and gesturing at Amelia. "That's what a healthy relationship looks like. Not that toxic crap with Reynolds and Gordon."

"Are you saying that I'm lacking in good role models?"

"Among other things."

Amelia grinned at them. "So who brings you cheesecake every week?"

"Ice-cream." Andrew corrects and pokes Neil in the arm again. "And thick shakes between classes."

Neil burst into bright laughter, rocking back on the bench. "Is that why you keep me around? I'm your sugar dealer!"

"That and the benefits of having an on hand medic." Andrew agreed. "Aaron still hasn't stopped cursing."

Neil laughed harder, wiping at his eyes as Amelia watched them with a smile. "As fascinating as this conversation is," She said brightly. "I am running late now. I'll catch you guys later!"

"Be cruel, Amelia." Andrew called as she began walking away. "We believe in you!"

Amelia sent them a wave over her shoulder and kept walking, ignoring the strange looks from the other students in the courtyard. Neil laughter died down, leaving the fond smile that was reserved only for Andrew.

"You liked her." Andrew shrugged but didn't argue with the statement. "What was on her shirt that got your attention?"

"We need to work on your pop culture understanding." He said handing the thick shake over for Neil to try. "Deadpool." He explained watching the pained expression on Neil's face as the sugar hit his tongue. "He's a comic character, one of the few not appropriate for kids, lot's of gore and bad language. They made a few movies that were pretty good."

"That's awful." Neil grimaced handing the cup back. "And that make her worth liking?"

"That means she's less likely to judge us for violent tendencies and foul language. She seem alright." He said glancing at his phone. "Can you make my hair blond again?"

Neil blinked as he processed the change in topic. "I thought you liked the blue?"

"I do. But the twin thing has it's advantages in social settings."

Neil understood then. Andrew had the same motivation here as he did when they picked Neil up from the airport with the twins almost identically dressed. Confuse. Any-one who didn't know the twins personally would struggle to figure out which twin was which.

"The Banquet?" Andrew responds with a nod. "We can do that."

-

Kevin had been given the week off training, thanks to Abby's soft heart, which wasn't too much of a problem since they didn't a game that Friday. All the teams in the district were taking it easy as they got ready for the Banquet. But that didn't deter Kevin from resuming his assistant coach position ever time the rest of the team stepped on court.   
More than a few balls were thrown hard and fast at Kevins spot behind the plexi glass, when he pummeled his fist against it to point out player mistakes. It didn't help. Kevin took notes, forcing the team to hang back after practice so he could ream them out in the team lounge. He may have been right, of course he was, but he was such an arse about it that the team quickly took to pretending they couldn't understand him. It started with Seth, who was enjoying the sight of Kevin's bruised face more than he should. Seth looked Kevin dead in the eyes after a particularly long rant and said without a care, "Sorry, I missed that, can you repeat it?"

This had started Kevin off again, talking slower to enunciate his words as much as he could, while Allison let out a loud groan. Seth watched him with a slight smirk, letting Kevin repeat the entire tirade before lifting his hand to cup his ear and asking him to, "Repeat that, one more time?"

Matt was the first to giggle. Followed quickly by Nicky as the team caught on. Wymack picked up his clipboard to smack himself in the face as Kevin repeated himself a third time. That sent a ripple of laughter around the room.

Kevin glared at them at them all for interrupting him and proceeded to chew Allison out for missing a pass in the last 20 mins of practice. Allison twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she watched him with a blank expression.

"Huh?" She asked when he was finished.

The shade Kevin turned at that comment, was anything but natural. Nicky doubled over in laughter and even Aaron couldn't hold back his grin as Kevin rounded on Neil, demanding that he translate the tirades.

"What was that?" Neil asked innocently.

Kevin fumed, jabbing a finger at Neil. "I 'o ou und'and me!"

"What?" Neil grinned. "Could you repeat that? I didn't understand you."

Kevin launched into an expletive filled rant that became increasingly difficult to follow, as he appealed to Andrew to stand up for him. Andrew stared at him indifferently.  
"If we're done here, can we go now?" He asked Wymack.

Wymack, sitting on the tv unit and rubbing his temples, leveled a tired look at his team. "Fine. I'd like a word with Josten," he said with a pointed look at Neil. "Before you run off for the night."

"What did I do?" Neil mumbled under his breath as team set off a chorus of 'Some-ones in trouble!'.

Aaron sent a grin to Nicky. "Five says that Abby yells at him for performing untrained medical treatments!"

Nicky smirked, pulling himself to his feet. "Ten says he thanks Neil for keeping Kevin's face so pretty."

"Get out!" Coach yelled, waving the clipboard at the door.

Neil watched as his teammates filed out the door. Dan dragging her feet behind the others, sending inquisitive looks between him, Coach and Andrew who had failed to move at Wymacks instructions, before slowly following the others out. Andrew waited until she was gone before he looked over at him.

"Want me to wait?"

Neil wasn't sure what Wymack wanted to discuss with him, but he knew the man well enough by this point to know that he wouldn't request him to stay if he only wanted two minutes of his time. Wymack wasn't a man of many words and he could say most things in less than thirty second. Obviously, today was not going to be one of those short conversations.

"Go ahead." Neil said, despite the unease in his gut. "I'll jog home."

"Okay." Andrew shrugged, setting to his feet and heading to the door switching to German as he left. " _Don't waste you smokes, he has plenty to spare!"_

"Nice!" Neil called after him with a laugh, watching the door swing closed with a decisive thud, the laugh died on his lips as he became acutely aware of being left alone with Wymack once again.

He had survived months living off the mans couch, but he was far from comfortable to find himself unexpectedly alone in his company. Wymack picked up on his thoughts with a tired sigh. 

"Come on." He said gesturing to the door. "Let's talk some-where that you're less squirrelly."

"Can't say I've been called a squirrel before." Neil commented as he followed him out.

Wymack led him into the stadium and up to the middle of the stands. Neil had a strange sense of deja vu. The last time he had sat in the stand to talk, it was Andrew beside him after smashing him in the stomach with a racket, having Wymack in the seat across from him instead was a strange twist.

"I've been hearing a lot of chatter." Wymack started, pulling out his cigarettes and offering him the pack. Neil took Andrews advice, accepting the cigarette and lighting up as he waited for Wymack to continue. "I can't be sure if you're bringing the team together or tearing them further apart?"

"I'm not doing anything." Neil muttered in annoyance. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear, Coach."

Wymack studied the court quietly, taking in the quiet atmosphere as they smoked together. "Matt came to me last week." He offered, slowly considering his words. "He said that after the Ferdinand shit show, he and Andrew managed to have a chat about what happened between them last year... He went so far as to say that they might be able to be friends at some point. Said that having you around had made Andrew more open to him."

"You can't put that on me," Neil argued. "I wasn't there for that conversation."

"More than one of them came to tell me how Nicky went searching for you when Andrew hurt himself?" Neil grimaced at the reminder, but stayed silent. "They said that you sent the others over to them. Dan was over the moon about having them spend a few hours in the rest of the teams company for the first time, until they realised that you had a serious problem with Renee, anyway."

"We're Foxes, aren't we?" He glared at him. "You didn't think I was going to show up and help fix this broken team, did you?"

"Do I look stupid?"

"You take in broken kids and try to create united Class 1 team with them. Not exactly the definition of smart now, is it?" Neil challenged, taking another cigarette when Wymack offered him the pack again.

"You think this is doomed to fail?" Wymack asked lighting his own.

"I think that you can't begin to fix this mess when you have no idea how deep the issues run with each Fox. Do you know how many Foxes have ended another's life? How many have been abused and beaten to the point of breaking? And your solution is to room them together and let them tear themselves apart."

"My solution is not to tear them apart!" Wymack growled in the first real sign of anger Neil had seen from the man. "Things aren't perfect here. They never will be." He stated with a hard look. "But it's a damn sight better than where they all come from, where you come from. I think that's worth some-thing, don't you?"

Neil was a little ashamed of himself then. He had slept on the streets, in shelters, abandoned warehouses or under bridges, enough times to know that providing a roof, meals and the safety of a place away from your abusers was definitely a worthwhile pursuit.

"What's the endgame?" He wanted to know. "There's no way that they'll all go on to the pro's, if any at all."

Wymack sighed, rubbing his temples as the smoke dangled from his lips. "It's not about that, that'd be nice, but it's not about that. It's about giving these kids a second chance. A chance to fight for a better life, build up their confidence, get them the help they need, give them a degree and hopefully a job when they graduate. A chance to break whatever cycle landed them here and give them a better life moving forward."

He stayed silent for a while after that. It was a nice dream. The idea of breaking the cycle and leading a better life. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that he would live long enough to have that for himself, but Andrew could. He had done what he could to give Andrew that chance as well, how could he blame Wymack for trying to do the same with the rest of the Foxes. He might even succeed with a few and wouldn't that make it worth while?

"Alright," He conceded quietly. "I can understand that, but I'm not going to sweep problems under the rug in the name of unity."

"I'm not asking you to." Wymack agreed with a glance. "Let's be honest for a moment, you have more loose ends than any other member on this team, and I don't know what to make of you half the time. Andrew aside, none of the Foxes really know what to think of you. I'd like to know where your priorities lie."

Neil could say a lot here and none of it would be beneficial to either of them, he stayed quiet instead. Studying the stadium as Wymack failed to wait him out.

"Jesus, kid." He sighed, tossing the burnt out cigarette into the sea of seats. "You bolted the moment I mentioned Kevin in Millport, but you come to his defense on national TV even when you didn't want to be there. Nicky told me that you jumped in with the guys at the club the moment you realised what was happening. Taking three of them down before talking Andrew down from killing them and resetting Kevin's nose. I just want to know why, what motivates you to help him when you spend the rest of your time fighting him?"

It was a fair question from that perspective. Pity it lacked in all actual understanding of what had been happening in each situation. 

"You want to know where my priorities are?" Neil clarified. Wymack gave him a clear nod. "I don't trust Kevin Day. I ran because there was no way in hell I would play with a self centred asshole like that." He explained, thinking about how Kevin would happily throw him under the bus if he ever recognised who he was. "Lucky for you, you unwittingly bought along the one person in the world I'd be willing to say yes to."

"Why Andrew?" Coach asked turning to face him.

"You asked about my priorities, not my reasons." Neil glared at him. "I stepped in for Kevin because Drew gave him his word and you and your merry band of morons stopped him from stepping in himself." And brought on a fresh round of trauma for Andrew which was why he avoided Renee. Andrew decked Wymack as payback for that. Nicky was family, and hadn't meant any harm, so his only punishment was having to deal with the fallout. But Renee, she should have known better. Andrew had trusted her, and Neil was pissed.

"Same at the club." He continued, clearing his throat. "Five guys. Kevin was on the floor and too drunk to fight back. Drew was dealing with the two main offenders and didn't see the other three getting ready to jump him. That's why I stepped in, just because he can take on four guys at once, doesn't mean he should have to."

"You talked him down...?" Wymack prompted.

"I had no intention of seeing him in handcuffs." Neil ground out. "I reset Kevin's nose because a) I could, and no-one else had that kind of knowledge, b) taking him to the hospital would have drawn too much attention, not to mention cops with questions. c) driving back here to see Abby would have taken too long, it wouldn't have healed properly if we waited that long."

"Your priorities are Andrews safety and then the safety of Andrews lot by extension?"

"Yeah." He agreed. "Then your precious team, but only on the court. I'm not about to stage an intervention for Seth drug habits and I couldn't give two shits about Renee's hurt feelings."

"How are you going to handle the Ravens this weekend?" Wymack asked, derailing Neil thoughts about his teammates. "The only one who handled that news worse than you, was Kevin, and you weren't here when Kevin arrived last year. You have some-thing personal against them."

Wymack was fishing. Neil couldn't blame him, but he had given him enough information for one day.

"I'll handle it."

Wymack heard the finality in his voice and sighed. "You don't have to do things alone, kid."

"If we're done here?" Neil glared as Wymack rubbed his temples and nodded. Neil stood and dusted the ash off his pants. "See you tomorrow, Coach."

It pissed him off. Knowing that he had been seen here, had made him self visible enough here for people to notice. Millport had been different. He didn't have to spend anytime off the court with his team there. They didn't know where he slept (other than his Coach when he broke into the locker room), they didn't sit with him at lunch, didn't speak between classes and never asked about his plans for the weekend or tried to invite him to theirs. 

He knew that it was going to be different here with Andrew, but he hadn't counted on how much attention he would draw from the rest of the team either. He had made mistakes. Let information slip when he should have bitten his tongue. Slipped into languages Neil Josten wasn't supposed to know. But he had still evaded Kevin's memory, would he be able to escape notice from Riko as well, or would his luck run out with the Ravens.

His thoughts turned to what he would need to run again as he made his way back to the Tower. His mother had a contact over in Charlotte that could give him a new ID. Maybe pass on a message to the right people.

He stopped dead in the middle of the road when he realised where his thoughts were heading. A wave of cold dread washing over him. He couldn't do that. He had a home here with Drew and he wasn't about to give it up on the chance some-one would recognise him. Andrew deserved better than abandonment from him. Dragging his feet forward again was an act of will, but not one that he would regret.

When the Tower came into sight he could breathe freely again. It helped that he could see a dark figure perched on the edge of the roof waiting for his return. There was a reason he choose to stay, and it would greet him with comfortable silences, dark humour and shared cigarettes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been absent for I while and I want to start by apologising. It's been a long few weeks and I haven't been getting a whole lot of time for writing. Thanks to all of you who dropped a comment checking up on me and encouraging me to keep working, I can't express how much I appreciate the support you guys have given me.  
> A special thanks to @Super_YELLOW, who has brightened many of my days with their brilliant artwork! If you haven't seen them, I encourage you to check it out. Please show them the same love and support you've shown me!   
> On a final note, I can assure you that this story won't be getting forgotten anytime soon. It's my baby and I'm going to see it through till the end. As always, leaving me comment and let me know what you think! Or just drop in if you want a chat.  
> Thanks Everyone!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Fanarts inspired by Lifeline, @pandaseek](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29063889) by [Super_YELLOW](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_YELLOW/pseuds/Super_YELLOW)




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